Changes to the NHS - and a rising swell of belief that the NHS won't be around in the future - could make fundraising for healthcare a little bit tricky, says Daniel Fletcher.
Three and a half years ago I blogged about the impact of changes in the NHS on health care fundraising. Now, in 2013 with the imminent conclusion in April to the process that was starting then under Gordon Brown’s government, it is interesting to reflect on how the future may continue.
The last Labour government introduced the ‘any willing provider’ concept, reinforcing a market-based health system first put forward in the early ‘90s. Former Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley developed this into ‘any qualified provider’ in his Health and Social Care Act, and the outcome of this is that the NHS is free to pay all variety of organisations to deliver health care. From April this year, the shift of power and money to the National Commissioning Board and clinical commissioning groups will reinforce this policy.
What does this mean in practice for fundraisers in health charities within the NHS system? The question I raised in my previous blog was essentially, ‘Does it matter who runs an organisation asking for donations to help people in ill health?’ I think it probably does matter. I’ve not seen a typical GP surgery fundraising in the way that local hospitals do. A GP surgery is essentially a commercial organisation, or at least partnership of private clinicians, paid by the NHS to deliver primary health care. Sick people who go to their doctor may well end up as the same sick people who make a cancer unit deserving of donations, but the GP surgery is unlikely to get any donations to help with their care.
What happens if a private company like United Health or Virgin Care is a qualified provider for a local NHS maternity unit? Would a fundraising appeal for specialist SCBU equipment be very effective? The Friends of Hinchingbrooke Hospital are an interesting case. For years the charity supported an NHS hospital, which then moved under management of a privately-run organisation, Circle in 2012. Do donors, and volunteers too, feel the same about helping when a private company runs the service? Anecdotal feedback suggests they don’t.
At least for now, there is still the blue NHS lozenge to provider some familiar context to donors. What happens if the NHS is gone in 20 years? There will still be people who are unwell. But if healthcare is provided by private companies, many of which will probably be funded by private medical insurance, then healthcare fundraising becomes much harder. And if any state-funded care ends up looking just the same as private care, as is the case in many old people’s care homes today, philanthropy towards health care needs will be a very difficult message to present, and probably won’t work.
