Brown promises minimum standards for patients

Mr Brown pledged that patients would have a right to access to hospital treatment within 18 weeks of a GP referral, access to a cancer statistics within two weeks and free health checks for people aged 40-74.

Other areas to be explored include access to NHS dentistry and evening and weekend access to GPs.

A right for patients to choose to die at home could be introduced as the end of life care strategy is implemented.

But the announcement, part of a wide-ranging policy announcement called Building Britain’s Future, was met with cynicism, because many of the pledges are already in place.

The King’s Fund chief executive Niall Dickson said: ‘The idea that patients should have a right to certain standards of treatment is a good one and the government should be congratulated on reducing the number of central targets, some of which were hard to justify.

‘However, we do need to be clear that many of the ‘rights’ set out in the Prime Minister’s announcement are currently ‘must do’s’ for the NHS. For example, the four hour maximum wait in accident and emergency, the 18 week wait for hospital treatment and health checks for 40 year olds are all already in operation.’

Mr Dickson added that the NHS Constitution may have to be strengthened to fulfil these pledges and that the NHS may find it hard to deliver on the promises.

‘For example the guarantee of access to NHS dentistry and to enable patients with long term conditions to die at home are laudable ambitions but if the service cannot achieve that standard immediately, there is a risk of alienating staff and frustrating patients.

‘Nor should we forget that NHS targets, although unpopular and sometimes misguided, did play a vital role in driving the dramatic decreases in waiting times over the past 12 years.’

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