Future Hospital Commission: the time for action

Our hospitals are struggling to cope with the challenges of an ageing population, increasing hospital admissions, and a failure to provide coordinated, patient-centred care; added to a looming crisis in the medical workforce, and the need to find £20 billion efficiency savings by 2015. It is clear that radical steps need to be taken if we are to be able to provide high quality medical care. In March 2012 the Royal College of Physicians established an independent Future Hospital Commission with the aim of addressing these challenges. The Commission, chaired by Sir Michael Rawlins, brought together patients and healthcare experts from many disciplines including general practice, to build a vision of what comprehensive high quality medical care for patients could look like. It’s report Future Hospital: Caring for Medical Patients ,1 published on 12 September, sets out the Commission’s vision for hospital services structured around the needs of patients, now and in the future. It focuses not only on the care of acutely ill medical patients, but also the organisation of general and elective medical services, and the role of physicians and doctors in training across the medical specialties in England and Wales. People’s needs are often complex, and hospital services must be organised to respond to all aspects of physical health (including multiple acute and chronic conditions), mental health and wellbeing, and social and support needs. Importantly, the Commission decided its recommendations must be cost neutral, bearing in mind the need for financial stringency. The report envisions principles …