Falling productivity in the NHS is a 'myth' Deaths in adult critical care fell 2.4 per cent a year along with deaths following a heart attack by 5.3 per cent a year. More stroke patients are being treated in accordance with clinical guidelines, fewer people are being treated on mixed sex wards and the number of people who think the NHS is improving has also increased by more than 10 per cent per year. Prof Black said "Until the election in 2010, debate as to whether productivity had fallen or risen was played out, predictably, largely on party lines. To justify the reforms to the NHS that the Conservative Party wanted to introduce, the claim of declining NHS productivity was necessary. Declining NHS productivity in England between 2000 and 2009 is just one recent myth in health-care policy. Many other myths have arisen in the past and many more will do so in the future. We cannot prevent myths developing but we should remain vigilant, spot them as early as possible, and attempt to minimise the harm they can do in distorting understanding and misleading policy makers. Dr Horton said: "One of the reasons the current government gives for its radical and widely unpopular health reforms is the decade-long decline in productivity of the NHS. As Nick Black shows, this alleged decline is a myth. In fact, a fuller account of the evidence reveals likely substantial gains in productivity-gains in evidence-based practice, patient outcomes, and patient experiences. If the main reason for the Health and Social Care Bill is a lie, the upheavals it will produce are entirely unnecessary. This is further evidence to kill this damaging and dangerous bill. Andy Burnham MP, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, said in response to the Lancet article on NHS productivity: This analysis is hugely embarrassing for the Prime Minister. It demolishes an anti-NHS argument that Cameron and his Ministers have repeatedly trotted out for their right-wing re-organisation. Far from falling, NHS productivity increased in the last decade at the same time as the NHS was achieving record patient satisfaction. It is this successful NHS that, inexplicably, is being turned upside down by the Tory-led Coalition. But, as well as destroying their arguments, this analysis exposes the Prime Minister's duplicity on the NHS. Professor Black explicitly criticises the Tories for propagating a myth that NHS productivity was declining to create a false justification for their Health & Social Care Bill. Health Minister Simon Burns said: "We have always been clear that productivity in the NHS needs to improve and are committed to better outcomes for patients across the country. We are investing an extra £12.5bn in the NHS, but we want to make every penny count. We know the NHS can meet this challenge - we have already made £7 billion in efficiency savings over the last 18 months as performance has improved: record low infection rates, mixed sex wards down by over 90 percent and people waiting over a year reduced by half. We are modernising the NHS to put patients first, hand power to doctors and nurses, and reduce bureaucracy by £4.5bn.