The Government has launched a major “national conversation” on the future of the NHS, as it prepares its plan for the service’s next 10 years.
Although the NHS is expected to receive a cash injection at the Budget this month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has made clear that more money must be accompanied by reform.
The 10-year plan is a significant part of that reform, which the Government hopes will help cut waiting lists from the record highs of recent years.
But ministers have also called for patients and staff to provide their own views on how the NHS should be improved, and a large-scale consultation is being launched on Monday.
– Why is the Government asking for views?
Although the Government has already sketched out parts of its plan for the NHS, the Health Secretary has said he is keen to ensure that the document bears the “fingerprints” of patients and staff and has their support.
In media interviews, he has contrasted this approach with that of Conservative former health secretary Andrew Lansley, who imposed a major reorganisation on the NHS in 2010.
Mr Streeting said on Sunday that Mr Lansley had instituted “a disastrous top-down reorganisation that nobody wanted, nobody had voted for, cost billions, and wasted a huge amount of potential to the NHS”.
Calling for the views of patients and staff, Mr Streeting said: “Whether you use the NHS or work in it, you see first-hand what’s great, but also what isn’t working. We need your ideas to help turn the NHS around.”
– What is already in the plan?
Mr Streeting has previously talked about three “big shifts” he wants to see in the NHS.
The first is from hospitals to the community, with more care being delivered closer to people’s homes, including through new neighbourhood health centres that will bring more community services together under one roof.
The second shift is from treatment to prevention, with a greater focus on keeping people healthy. This is expected to include an expanded role for technology such as smart watches that can help people with diabetes or high blood pressure monitor their conditions at home.
The third shift involves greater use of digital technology in general, including by creating a single, digital patient record to speed up the sharing of information about a patient and prevent them from having to repeat their medical history at every appointment.
– How can I take part?
The Government has launched its online consultation at change.NHS.uk, which will also be available through the NHS app.
The consultation will be open until the end of the year, with the final version of the 10-year plan expected to be published in the spring of 2025.
