Dalton Review

Sir David Dalton's report, Examining new options and opportunities for providers of NHS care, sought to outline the future options for providers of NHS care, in order to achieve high quality and sustainable care.

The Dalton Review highlighted that NHS providers varied in quality of care across the country. The review identified a number of new organisational models, which could help providers respond to the challenges faced by the NHS, and complemented the recommendations made in the Five year forward view for the NHS in England.

The Dalton Review identified five key themes for NHS providers to address:

• one size would not fit all
• quicker transformational and transactional change was required
• ambitious organisations with a proven track record should be encouraged to expand their reach and have greater impact
• overall sustainability for the provider sector was a priority
• a dedicated implementation programme was needed to make change happen.

The response to the Dalton Review was generally positive. The Director of NHS Clinical Commissioners (NHSCC), Julie Wood, commented that utilising all available funds across whole health systems would be critical to implement the organisational models suggested by the Dalton Review.