The Government’s response has been to fully accept the report’s suggestions, as many tie in with the general programme of reforms set out in the Health and Social Care Bill. However, much like many of the proposals we saw outlined in the Bill and put into practice over the past year, other groups have been less enthusiastic. For example, Dr Clare Gerada, chair of the RCGP, has voiced concerns at the lack of evidence base for public health proposals, and that questioning patients at every opportunity may even be detrimental to the patient/physician relationship.

This is the first report of what will likely be many throughout 2012 both supporting reform and condemning it in equal measure. But what changes within the NHS can be expected in the coming year? Here are a few points that the Virgo HEALTH team will be looking out for…

First and foremost, the Health and Social Care Bill will receive Royal Assent, with most proposals likely to be still intact. Even so, there are lingering questions over Andrew Lansley’s position within the Cabinet. Will he continue to serve as Secretary of State into 2013? In all likelihood, yes – but nothing is certain.
As the Government progresses with the reforms throughout 2012, we will see the further dismantlement of current NHS structures and consolidation of new bodies such as the NHS Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups in their place. However, there will continue to be plenty of debate over the composition and size of these groups, and the role traditional commissioners from PCT and SHA backgrounds can play in them. 2012 should therefore provide more answers as to the future these managers have within the new NHS.

The DH published figures at the end of December confirming that it was on track to deliver the savings required for the year 2011/12 as set out in the Budget, recording savings of £2.5 billion in the first 6 months of the efficiency challenge. Many argue that the easy cuts have been already been made, and that the NHS will be facing an increasingly difficult challenge to try and find further savings. We will see whether the figure of £6 billion for the year is achieved in the summer, and towards the end of the year, whether it is still on track to hit its final target.

Finally, ‘no decision about me, without me’ as an underpinning principle behind the reforms will begin to come to the fore. Can we expect to see patients taking more interest in their care, as more choice is provided, and information becomes available? Andrew Lansley has stated this week that ‘blacklisting’ of NHS drugs needs to be ended to stop the current ‘postcode lottery’, but also to avoid the threat of legal action from patients who know their rights.

We are sure you will be following developments in the NHS like us, during a year which will undoubtedly be crucial for the success of the reforms and economic future of the NHS.

Political scientist Robert Dahl’s famous definition of power ‘A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do’ could perhaps be re-written with Mr Lansley’s particular predicament in mind: ‘A secretary of state for health has power over the NHS to the extent that he can get his White Paper passed in an Act of Parliament and that legislation implemented by healthcare professionals and managers’.

While we’ll have to wait until later in the parliamentary calendar to see how Lansley fares, with outspoken opposition from prominent figures further down the HSJ100 such as number 11 Clare Gerada over the weekend, his claim on pole position looks decidedly uncertain.

Regional variation could still exist if cost-effectiveness decisions are made by GP consortia, so the move does not signal an end to talk of ‘postcode lotteries’. While there is much detail to be filled in here before making any such speculation, healthcare communications programmes will be guided by value judgements and access to drugs in the same way they have done based on NICE guidance.

On a simple level, we believe that the pharma industry should be able to provide information to patients when appropriate. This is comparable to other industries. For example, when buying a car most people will initially develop a shortlist based on the brand’s advertising that most closely reflects their own values (such as safety, reliability or status). But because buying a car is a major investment it’s likely that the purchaser will also look to other sources for confirmation that the decision is the right one. When the claims the manufacturer makes are also backed up by Jeremy Clarkson and What Car? the brand and environmental messages are congruent and a purchase is more likely to occur.

While healthcare is very different, the principle is similar. In the same way that a car manufacturer knows more about their cars than anyone else, a pharma company knows more about its drugs than anyone else. Therefore, a pharma company should be able to share information about medicines with healthcare professionals and patient groups if appropriate of course always complying with regulatory obligations. We are not talking about direct to consumer advertising or direct communications with patients – this is something we’re more than happy we do not have in the UK. We are simply talking about the pharma industry providing balanced information in an appropriate manner to complement the information provided to patients by patient groups and healthcare professionals, such that patients are able to make well informed choices about their healthcare.

The point here is that the knowledge pharmaceutical companies have about their medicines should not be kept locked away, but communicated to healthcare professionals, and in some cases patients, in an appropriate and responsible way. If initiatives funded by a pharmaceutical company enable greater insights into the management of a condition, this can obviously benefit patients. In our opinion, it is not a question of whether pharma should be able to provide information to healthcare professionals and patients when appropriate, it is how they do it and what the information is.

Whether patients want ‘choice’ or not, they will become increasingly immersed into a healthcare culture which says they should. They are being promised an ‘information revolution’ to give greater control of medical records and access doctors online, as well as the services of HealthWatch, a new agency to handle patient complaints and champion the views of the public across health and social care.

So how can healthcare communications support patients and bring value to this new NHS? In many ways. But here are just a few ideas to start with:

- Patients are likely to be confused about what they are being promised and what it actually means when it comes to their specific condition and healthcare needs. Pharma partnerships with trusted third parties could provide guidance on how to make the most of the services out there.

- Engagement programmes could teach patients how to make the most of their personal healthcare budgets supporting websites and social networks which allow the exchange of information about specific services would provide useful feedback and insights.

- Working with patient groups to obtain feedback on local services and if appropriate, assisting in lobbying activities could make positive changes to the new system, while building  trust.

- Holding many small scale patient or healthcare professional feedback events, with Twitter feeds around the events to inform the outside world, could tap into opinion and generate advocacy around healthcare issues.

However, like all agencies winning well deserved awards, we did not get where we are today by ourselves and thank those we have worked with, clients and supplier partners, particularly for their support and input. The spotlight on our industry (and all industries) is bigger and brighter than ever before. Most importantly, healthcare communications can make a real difference to enhancing the reputation of our industry, advocating informed choice and ultimately delivering real improvements in healthcare. All of those awarded by Communiqué in 2010, and many of those who were not, are doing just this.

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