Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called on NHS staff and experts – as well as the entire nation - to help shape the government’s plans to overhaul the NHS.
Members of the public, as well as NHS staff and experts will be invited to share their experiences views and ideas for fixing the NHS via the online platform, change.nhs.uk, which will be live until the start of next year, and available via the NHS App.
The public engagement exercise will help shape the government’s 10 Year Health Plan which will be published in spring 2025 and will be underlined by three big shifts in healthcare - hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.
As part of the first shift, from hospital to community; the government wants to deliver plans for new neighbourhood health centres, which will be closer to homes and communities. Patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors, or mental health specialists, all under the same roof.
In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results, and letters in one place, through the NHS App. It will put patients in control of their own medical history, meaning they don’t have to repeat it at every appointment, and that staff have the full picture of patients’ health. New laws are set to be introduced to make NHS patient health records available across all NHS trusts, GP surgeries and ambulance services in England – speeding up patient care, reducing repeat medical tests, and minimising medication errors.
Systems will be able to share data more easily, saving NHS staff an estimated 140,000 hours of NHS staffs’ time every year, because staff will have quicker access to patient data, saving time that can then be spent face-to-face with patients who need it most and potentially saving lives.
By moving from sickness to prevention, government wants to shorten the amount of time people spend in-ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen. As an example, the 10 Year Health Plan will explore the opportunities smart watches and other wearable tech may offer patients with diabetes or high blood pressure, so they can monitor their own health from the comfort of their own home.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Today the NHS is going through the worst crisis in its history. But while the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten. Together, we can fix it. 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.
In order to save the things we love about the NHS, we need to change it. Our 10 Year Health Plan will transform the NHS to make it fit for the future, and it will have patients’ and staff’s fingerprints all over it. I urge everyone to go to Change.NHS.uk today and help us build a health service fit for the future. Investment alone won’t be enough to tackle the problems facing the NHS, why is why it must go hand in hand with fundamental reform.”
NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: The 10 Year Health Plan is a chance to make the best practice, normal practice across the country. So, we will be carrying out the largest ever staff engagement exercise in NHS history and leaving no stone unturned as we seek to harness frontline views, alongside those of patients and the public, to ensure this happens. It is your experiences – good, bad, and sometimes frustrating – that we need to help shape this once in a generation opportunity, so please get involved!”