The Mayor of London has invited Professor Lord Ara Darzi to lead an analysis of healthcare needs and services in the capital.
Professor Darzi, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, will head up the new clinically-led London Health Commission, which will conduct an evidence-based investigation into healthcare provision and resources for Londoners.
“I am delighted to have been approached by the Mayor to lead this independent commission,” Professor Darzi said.
“I have always believed that as a leading world city London should have exemplary health services to match. I will consider over the next few weeks how best to establish this vital work. These arrangements will be announced in due course.”
Lord Darzi holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London and is an honorary consultant surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the Royal Marsden NHS Trust hospitals.
In 2007 his recommendations in the Healthcare for London programme saw huge advances in the treatment of stroke, trauma and heart attack as well as great improvements in outcomes for patients. This saw the creation of specialist centres to treat these conditions such as Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust’s hyper acute stroke centre, heart attack centre and major trauma centre.
In 2012 Lord Darzi took up the role of chair of Imperial College Health Partners – the academic health science network for North West London.
The London Health Commission will be established by the Mayor of London to help support the work of the London Health Board, which was set up earlier this year by London councils, the Mayor and key health partners to provide strategic leadership across the capital.
The new commission will inform the response of the London Health Board to the challenges facing the health service as set out in ‘A Call to Action’ published by NHS England earlier this year. This will feed into the strategic plans of NHS England and Clinical Commissioning Groups, which jointly lead on planning London's health services over the next three to five years.
Dame Ruth Carnall, specialist health advisor to the Mayor of London, said: “Lord Darzi has unique experience of healthcare in the capital, together with a global reputation in biomedical research and health policy. He will bring all that experience to bear in the vital task of ensuring a high quality, sustainable health service for London.”
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and Chair of the London Health Board, said: “It goes without saying that adequate funding and resources are needed to ensure all Londoners, wherever they live in the capital, have access to world class healthcare.
“With fundamental changes underway in a huge and complex sector it is critical that we gather hard evidence about services in London, to build a compelling case as we fight for resources and work to ensure they are used effectively.
"Over the next period, the London Health Commission will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders and partners to build a comprehensive picture about the state of health and social care in one of the most diverse cities in the world. It is vitally important that we arm ourselves with compelling and credible evidence to present to central government."
The commission will take into account London's specific health challenges such as its high rates of tuberculosis, HIV and sickle cell anaemia alongside mental health conditions, a rising population and child poverty.
The London Health Commission will focus on three key areas. Firstly, it will establish whether the specific needs of London's diverse population are adequately understood by government and reflected in allocation formulae.
Secondly, it will assess the sustainability of healthcare services in the capital, looking at the systems that prevent Londoners getting ill in the first place, identifying current and future challenges, based on the changing needs of the population, its use of services, from primary to acute care, and social to community care.
Thirdly, London is home to some of the country's leading health research institutions and the commission will consider how they and their partners can best be supported.
The London Health Commission will include an executive group to deliver the work programme and an advisory board, which will include members from the LHB and other health stakeholders such as the Greater London Authority, London Boroughs, MPs, patients groups, voluntary sector organisations, Public Health England, NHS England and regulatory bodies. The commission will seek input and evidence from a wide range of stakeholders and report its findings to the Mayor in autumn 2014.
Based on a news release from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
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Sam Wong
School of Professional Development
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