Run the NHS and social care like John Lewis, says Frank Field

06 December 2016

In a piece in Friday’s edition of The Guardian, ex-Labour welfare minister, Frank Field, suggested that a new integrated service run on a mutual basis should be funded exclusively by national insurance contributions.

“The NHS now has a unique place in the public’s affection,” Field said in a written submission to a House of Lords committee looking into the long-term sustainability of the NHS. “Surveys show that the public not only wish to support the vision they have for the NHS, but that they are up for a change in funding which will deliver them a better health and social care package when they need it… He said that by hypothecating NI contributions and setting up a mutual model – an organisation owned by its users, like John Lewis which is owned by its employees – public support for the NHS would be cemented.”

Read the full article in The Guardian