19 March 2007
Frontline health and education services should be more focused on the needs of those who use them, Tony Blair has said.
As he unveiled the results of the first policy review strand, the PM set out his vision of a Britain where people were empowered to enjoy personalised services.
"The old ways of working are being broken down," he insisted.
Plans include bringing forward the deadline to allow patients awaiting acute healthcare a choice of provider - from the public, voluntary or private sector.
Nipping health problems in the bud is a key theme of the review so new walk-in centres and minor injuries units will be opened in "under-doctored" areas such as Hartlepool and Great Yarmouth.
In education, the aim is for greater parental involvement in their child’s schooling.
Ministers were impressed with school websites which offer up-to-the-minute details of pupil’s progress, homework and achievements.
League tables of public satisfaction levels with schools and hospitals could even include uncensored reviews similar to those offered by retailers like ebay or Amazon.
And the public could in future have the right to choose their own GP.
Mr Blair, alongside Gordon Brown and Patricia Hewitt during a launch event at a city academy in east London, said:
"The vision is of a Britain where people are more empowered than today, where they enjoy more opportunity than today, and where services of all kinds are focused ever more on the personal needs of those who use them.”
Watch our film about public services in Hackney:
- Building on progress: Public services in windows media player
- Building on progress: Public services in Realplayer
Over the coming weeks reports will be published on other areas of the review including environment and energy and security, crime and justice.
They will feed into White Papers, government papers, speeches and future legislation. Since October there have been 15 Cabinet-level sessions covering the six strands of the review.
The public have also been consulted with five regional events and a "citizens summit" hosted in No10 earlier this month.
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