NHS boss warns charges will have to be considered "It's not my responsibility to introduce new charging systems but it's something which a future government will wish to reflect [on], unless the economy has picked up sufficiently, because we can anticipate demand for NHS services rising by about 4 to 5 per cent per annum," Professor Grant said. He added that it was not up to him to decide where any future funding would come from. The NHS has been charged with making £20 billion in efficiency savings by 2015. The decision to establish NHS England was controversial because if removed responsibility of daily operation from the Health Secretary, Professor Grant noted. The aim was to deliver stability to a service which has been the responsibility of 12 different MPs over the last quarter of a century. Professor Grant said that the board was starting in a "strong" position because the Government needs it to work, and he is looking forward to "robust discussions" with Number 10 and the Department of Health. Under the reforms he will meet Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt for "accountability meetings" every two months, the agenda and minutes for which will be published in a "completely new" move for the Government, which the Professor believes they will find and "quite unnerving." This culture of openness will extend to the new clinical commissioning groups of GPs, he suggested, many of whom have been discovered to have an interest in a private health provider. There will need to be a "maturity" about declaration of conflicts, which will have to be disposed of if necessary. Professor Grant added: "We're trying to demonstrate that Whitehall doesn't know best."