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The coalition agreement published by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties on 12 May 2010 says that NHS funding will "increase in real terms in each year of the Parliament, while recognising the impact this decision would have on other departments". It will hold a full spending review this autumn.
In a statement released by the Department of Health on 13 May, Lansley did not address IT directly, but laid out his broad areas of concern. "I am determined that we will have an NHS in which the patient shares in making decisions; where quality standards are evidence based and form the basis of the design of services and their management; and where the objective is consistent improvement in the outcomes we achieve, so that they are amongst the best in the world," he said.
"To achieve this in the current financial crisis requires leadership and highly effective management. The NHS will be backed with increased real resources but with this comes a real responsibility. We will need progressively to be more efficient, to cut the costs of what we do now, to innovate and redesign, in order to enable us to meet increased demands and to improve quality and outcomes.
"This will not happen in a top-down, bureaucratic system. Decisions must be taken with patients, close to patients and with clinical leadership at the fore./"
His comments fit with Conservative manifesto pledges to "decentralise power", "make the performance of the NHS totally transparent" and integrating health and social care into a seamless service.
There are questions over the future of NHS Connecting for Health, which the Liberal Democrat party pledged to abolish in its manifesto.
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