Women will be empowered to determine how much hospitals are paid by rating their treatment under radical new plans to overhaul the National Health Service. Health Secretary Wes Streeting declared today that women have been 'made to feel like second class citizens' by the health service and will now have direct financial leverage to demand better care.
Financial Power for Patients
Under the initiative, if women believe the service they receive is not good enough, they will have the authority to prevent the provider from receiving full payment for it. 'I'll be giving women the power to kick medical misogyny where it hurts: the bank balance,' stated Mr Streeting during a speech delivered at an East London university.
'Over the next year, I'm going to enlist patients in my drive for a better quality service. Patients will be able to decide whether an NHS provider deserves full payment for the service they received, based on the quality of their experience,' he explained. 'And where better to start than with a group of patients who have been made to feel like second class citizens whose voices don't matter: women.'
How the Payment System Will Work
The plans, which were first announced last year, will see patients contacted a few weeks after their treatment and asked if it was good enough for the hospital to receive full payment. If patients respond negatively, approximately 10 per cent of 'standard payment rates' will be diverted to a local 'improvement fund' rather than going directly to the hospital.
The health service currently pays hospitals standard rates that range from £2,825 for a simple birth to £8,383 for an emergency caesarean and £9,236 for procedures like a hip replacement. This financial mechanism aims to incentivize higher standards of care by linking reimbursement directly to patient satisfaction.
Focus on Maternity Services
By targeting women first, Mr Streeting will bring NHS maternity services under intense scrutiny. This move follows a national investigation led by Baroness Amos, which warned earlier this year that NHS maternity care is 'not working' for women and babies.
The interim report found families face a 'postcode lottery' of care, with many tragically let down during pregnancy and labour by hospitals that have failed to learn from countless previous reviews. Mr Streeting has previously stated that women had been 'ignored, gaslit and lied to' by the NHS, highlighting the urgent need for reform in this area.
Expansion Plans and Additional Reforms
The payment model is likely to be expanded to all patients at a later date if the initial trial proves successful. In addition to the payment reforms, Mr Streeting announced yesterday that starting from next month, patients will be given the power to decide if and when they have follow-up appointments.
'I have lost count of the number of times I have been invited to a totally pointless follow-up that wastes my time and NHS money,' he remarked. 'It's not just me - we could free up millions of appointments for patients who actually need and want them.'
Context of Public Trust
These reforms come at a critical time when public faith in the health service remains 'catastrophically' low. A new survey has revealed that just 26 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with the NHS last year - a mere five-point increase from the all-time low of 21 per cent recorded in 2024.
The government hopes that by giving patients, particularly women, more control over their healthcare experience and the financial mechanisms that support it, trust and quality can be restored to a service that has faced mounting criticism in recent years.
