Our consultation response to the NHS Mandate

The NHS Mandate between the government and NHS England sets out the ambitions for the health service. The Department of Health recently consulted with the public to find out what they want from the NHS in the future.

Part of our role is to recommend changes to health and social care services that we know will benefit people. That's why we have responded to the consultation with our views on the draft framework document including two key areas where we think the draft misses an opportunity to strengthen the role of patients:

• Improving public and patient involvement in changes to local services

• Reform of the complaints system

We also gave our feedback on the proposed strategic objectives for NHS England as outlined in the Mandate framework.

We welcomed the intention behind the new Mandate, to give people more power and control over their care, because this is what people tell us they want to see from the future of health and care. We also shared our concerns about the timeframe given for the public to respond to the consultation, and for their views to be responded to.

We have also written a letter to Lord Prior, Minister for NHS Productivity, to share our views on the framework and the current consultation process for the NHS Mandate.