An independent commission established a year ago by the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales says that the National Health Service should be taken from Government control and become a public corporation governed by a management board with operational freedom within a constitution to protect its founding principles.
In a statement on April 17, the chairman of the commission (Mr Will Hutton) said: "People hold the NHS in high esteem but, after a recent rash of mistakes, scandals and underfunding, want their faith restored. A constitution will entrench accountability and equality into the bedrock of the organisation; it will help rebuild trust between the public, patients, doctors and NHS staff on a new basis of openness. . . . More accountability is not the sole answer to the NHS's problems, but it is the necessary precondition for improvement."
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"New life for health", Random House Ltd, ISBN 0099285754, price £4.00.