NHS Plan 2000

The NHS Plan 2000 was a ten year plan of the Blair ministry for the National Health Service (England). It combined a commitment to substantial investment with some quite radical changes. The most controversial aspect of the plan was the introduction of more private sector providers and a more competitive internal market. The plan, coming shortly after devolution, marked the beginning of divergence between the NHS in England and NHS Wales. NHS Scotland was legally distinct from England from the beginning of the NHS in 1948.

NHS Wales produced Improving Health in Wales early in 2001

Unlike some later plans for NHS reform there was a great deal of effort devoted to marshalling political support for the plan. At the beginning of the printed document were two pages with the signatures of 25 prominent leaders in the health field, including doctors, Trades Unions, patient charities and the Local Government Association

The main features the Plan promised were:

Tony Blair in his foreword promised that the March 2000 Budget settlement meant that the NHS would grow by one half in cash terms and by one third in real terms in five years.

Other developments flowing from the Plan included NHS care trusts, Nurse prescribing, Patient Advice and Liaison Services and the abolition of Community Health Councils.

Patients were promised that letters about an individual patient’s care will be copied to the patient, that there would be better information to help patients choose a GP and that there would be proper redress when operations were cancelled on the day they are due to take place.

According to Jennifer Dixon of the King's Fund writing in the British Medical Journal just after publication: "This is probably as good as it gets: a significant injection of money for the NHS sustained over five years coupled with a comprehensive national plan".

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