Nicholson challenge

The term "Nicholson challenge" refers to a set of mandates that the 2011 leader of the National Health Service in England, Sir David Nicholson, has put forth to the entirety of the NHS in a drive to find "efficiency savings" amidst a UK economy in upheaval. The parameters of the "challenge" by Nicholson to the NHS add up to a demand by Nicholson for the NHS to find £20 billion in "efficiency savings" by 2015.

The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 currently under consideration by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its House of Lords, which would greatly alter the fundamentals of NHS functioning (not just financing) if it becomes law, is technically not a part of this "challenge" at all, but is happening separately. The Nicholson challenge keeps NHS law and regulations as they currently stand, but asks staff and administrators to find these "savings" within those present parameters nevertheless.

Doctors and nurses across the NHS already complained early in 2011 that front-line NHS services of many different types are having to be cut immediately, and very heavily, in order to achieve these "savings", despite Nicholson alleging that they would not have to be.^[1][2] NHS workers insist that it is impossible to find these types of 'savings' in this amount of time without having to make drastic cutbacks to existing services.

On 18 October 2011 this allegation by doctors and nurses was further backed up by research when The Guardian published an exposé revealing how the Nicholson challenge is "really affecting the young, old and infirm". ^[3]

Defenders of the "challenge", such as James Ball of The Daily Telegraph, point out that health service finance directors had already been fully aware, since the summer of 2009, of the kind of constraints that would have to be dealt with because of the UK deficit crisis. Nicholson first signalled his challenge in June 2009 while the UK government was under the previous administration, which was that of Gordon Brown. ^[4]

References

1. ^ Smith, Rebecca (2010-04-21). "Cuts being made to frontline NHS services survey reveals". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7610848/Cuts-being-made-to-frontline-NHS-services-survey-reveals.html. 
2. ^ Campbell, Denis (2011-04-12). "NHS chief intervenes as 560 ambulance jobs axed". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/apr/12/nhs-chief-intervenes-ambulance-job-cuts. 
3. ^ Campbell, Denis (2011-10-18). "Revealed: how NHS cuts are really affecting the young, old and infirm". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/17/revealed-toll-cuts-nhs-services. 
4. ^ Ball, James (2009-06-13). "NHS chief tells trusts to make £20bn savings". The Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5524693/NHS-chief-tells-trusts-to-make-20bn-savings.html. 

This health-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Economics and finance stubs Politics stubs Health stubs National Health Service Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая? Nicholson Street Public School Nicholson railway station Look at other dictionaries: Nicholson, Jack — (1937– )    Actor and director Jack Nicholson was born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune, New Jersey. He began as an office boy at Metro Goldwyn Mayer while still in his teens. He trained at the Players Ring Theater in Los Angeles, and eventually got …   The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick M.D. Nicholson — Magnus Douglas Mark Nicholson (* 6. März 1871 in Oakengates, Shropshire, England; † 3. Juli 1941 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England) war ein englischer Fußballspieler des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts und einer der wichtigsten Wegbereiter des… …   Deutsch Wikipedia David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle — Grade 2 race David Nicholson Mares Hurdle Location Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham, England Inaugurated 2008 Race type Hurdle race Website Cheltenham …   Wikipedia Christopher Robert Nicholson — (born 1945) is a South African high court judge and a former cricketer, who played one first class match for South African Universities in 1967. He attained prominence as a judge when he ruled that the South African Government had tampered with… …   Wikipedia Mark Nicholson — Magnus Douglas Mark Nicholson (* 6. März 1871 in Oakengates, Shropshire, England; † 3. Juli 1941 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England) war ein englischer Fußballspieler des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts und einer der wichtigsten Wegbereiter des… …   Deutsch Wikipedia David Nicholson (horse racing) — David Nicholson (19 March 1939 27 August 2006) was a British National Hunt jockey and trainer. He was British jump racing Champion Trainer in the 1993 94 and 1994 95 seasons. Nicholson was the son of Frenchie Nicholson who was also a successful… …   Wikipedia Chris Nicholson (magician) — Chris Nicholson is an award winning close up magician who starred in the popular teenage magic show, Playing Tricks.[1] Biography Nicholson grew up in Brighton and began learning magic from the age of 10. He won his first award from The Magic… …   Wikipedia National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup — Ungraded race National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup Location Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham, England Race type Chase Website Cheltenham Race information Distance …   Wikipedia Scottish Challenge Cup 2007-08 — The 2007 ndash;08 Scottish Challenge Cup was the 17th staging of the tournament, which is competed for by all 30 members of the Scottish Football League. The final was played on 25 November 2007, between Dunfermline Athletic and St. Johnstone, at …   Wikipedia National Health Service (England) — The NHS Logo for England …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”