布莱尔首相演讲:NHS Plan

Transcript¹ of the Prime Minister's Broadcast on the NHS Plan
Friday 28 July 2000

The creation of the National Health Service back in 1948 lifted a massive worry from people's lives.

For the first time, health care did not depend on wealth. Need, not ability to pay, was what mattered.

Every family in Britain - and certainly mine - has its own reasons to thank the creators of the NHS and the expertise² and dedication³ of its nurses and doctors.

But while support for the NHS remains⁴ strong - and in particular for its founding principles - in recent years there's been increasing concern.

Concern, for instance, about growing delays and patchy standards of care. About why health funding has not kept pace with other comparable countries.

And these concerns, in turn, have fed fears about the very survival of the Health Service in the new century.

I understand these fears but I don't share them. I believe the values and principles behind the Health Service are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.

But I also accept that only by renewing and modernising our health service fundamentally can we re-assure the country that the Health Service will continue to meet its health needs

This has meant confronting two problems which have hamstrung the effectiveness of the Health Service over decades - chronic⁵ under-funding number one, and two, the shortcomings of a system designed really to meet the health needs and ambitions of 1948.

We tackled the under funding first.

Because we've taken steps as a government to restore stability to the economy, public finances being put back in shape and because we've created the conditions where there are now a million fewer people in benefit and a million more people in work the country can now afford the record - and sustained - investment that the NHS needs over the next few years.

This year's Budget delivered an annual funding increase of more than 6% above inflation for those four years - twice the real-terms increase that the NHS has received over its history.

But past lack of investment is not to blame for all the shortcomings in the Health Service.

It can't explain for instance, why services in one hospital can be so much better than those in another in the same town.

Indeed, sometimes the whole debate about shortage of money has helped mask other serious failures in the health service which risk wasting the extra investment that we now want to put in.

So the challenge we laid down when we announced the extra money is that the Government would deliver the investment but the money had to be accompanied by modernisation and reform of the chronic system failures of the NHS.

That's what the first ever National Plan for the NHS, published on Thursday, delivers.

It's ambitious but it is realistic. Its a plan rooted in the experience of patients and thousands of front-line NHS staff, at every level and in every part of the country who have helped draw it up.

I know, because I've had dozens of meetings with them over the last few months as I've worked to help draw this up.

And together we've produced this plan for the future of our health service. It's a clear strategy, with sustained investment, to deliver real improvements for the patient.

At every level, there will be radical⁶ change. And every reform will be driven by the goal of redesigning the NHS around the needs of the patient.

We will tackle the shortage of staff through 7,500 more consultants⁷ and 20,000 extra nurses.

And by recruiting more staff, removing unnecessary barriers between professions, modernising contracts for doctors and rewarding and encouraging excellence⁸, we will improve the service for patients and end the culture of waiting in the Health Service.

By 2004 patients will be able to see their GP within 48 hours.

By 2005, the maximum waiting time for an out-patient appointment will be three months, for in-patients six months.

By 2010 we will have 100 new hospital schemes.

We will see modern matrons to ensure high standards on the wards⁹

Patients' champions in every hospital

And a new agreement with the private sector¹⁰ so that we can use their spare beds and operating theatres for NHS patients where appropriate.

There will also be a guarantee for patients whose surgery is cancelled at the last minute that the operation taking place quickly.

Better care for patients at home so that they don't block beds unnecessarily and can recuperate¹¹ better is also part of the plan.

As is regular inspections¹² of hospitals to ensure they are meeting new national standards on care and treatment

In essence we are trying to reform and modernise¹³ every aspect of the Health Service. In addition we need to provide through the Health Service Dignity, security and independence in old age.

It will take time, of course, to achieve all this. But a whole range of people who work in or value our health service believe it offers, this plan, a genuine opportunity to re-build the Health Service for the 21st century.

If we meet this challenge - and this Government is determined¹⁴ we will - the health service will continue to be a source of pride and security for the people of this country for decades to come.

ENDS

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

3 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

7 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

8 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

9 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 recuperate   

v.恢复

参考例句：

• Stay in the hospital for a few more days to recuperate.再住院几天，好好地恢复。
• He went to the country to recuperate.他去乡下养病去了。

12 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 modernise   

vt.使现代化

参考例句：

• If it works,it would help to modernise the entire economy.这项（改革）一旦实施起效，将有助于整体经济的现代化进程。
• They attempted in vain to modernise these antiquated industries.他们企图使这些陈旧的工业现代化，结果劳而无功。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。