In a speech to the NHS Federation (the organisation of NHS service providers), the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, set the direction of the NHS for the new Government. His first point was the the path to patient safety is the same as that to economy. At the same time NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence was asked to stop its work on safe staffing levels in hospital wards, to the disapproval of Robert Francis, chair of the enquiry into the Mid-Staffs hospital failure, The Health Secretary also indicated that central government would estimate the savings ro be made by better procurement at each NHS provider and insist on those savings from January 2016. He also introduced the idea of chains of NHS Trusts, multi-site organisations that could share resources and best practice within a single organisational uimbrella. Locally we have seen an example of this in Frimley Park Trust taking over Wexham Park Hospital Trust. The new deal for primary care was also mentioned - but without giving further detail. A change in targets and reporting was announced. The A&E target of 95% of patients to be seen within 4 hours (formerly 98%) will now only be reported monthly, alongside other hospital targets. He also suggested two out of three parts of the 18-week referral-to-treatment times (RTTs) be abolished. They are the target for 90% of patients who need treatment to be given it within 18 weeks, and the target for 95% of people needing outpatient appointments to be seen within 18 weeks. The target for 92% of all patients to be seen within 18 weeks will not be scrapped. He said a pilot testing the effectiveness of an eight-minute deadline for ambulances to respond to emergency calls should be extended. A new look at measuring the performance of CCGs through health outcomes in their areas was signalled, starting with a study by the King's Fund think tank into a set of measures proposed.