Commenting on the release of the Oldham report, Sir Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO said:
“Charities and social enterprises welcome Labour’s Oldham Report. Every day our sector works to meet the needs of the whole person, as a service provider and as an advocate for patients. The report is a welcome recognition of our preventative model of care that keeps people healthy, well and out of hospital. A number of the recommendations in ACEVO’s 2013 report on prevention in healthcare have been addressed, not least considerable potential in alliance contracting and other long-term partnerships that allow the third sector to work as an integrated partner with the NHS.
But if we are to achieve these aims it’s essential to make sure that commissioners are placed on red alert. We need commissioners to put the sector at the heart of their decision-making, and avoid the development of private sector oligopolies that reduce choice and stifle innovation.
We also need strong patient rights to voice in the design of their services, and choice in the type and location of care. The rhetoric from Labour is promising but we will need strong political leadership to make sure patient rights to community care become reality.
Finally, we welcome the promise from Labour that their aims can be achieved without further restructuring of the system. We’ve seen how unhelpful this can be to providers who are still working their way through to the most recent reforms. All parties will need to engage in fuller discussions about their plans with the sector at the top table. This report should not be the end but the start of those deliberations.”
