NHS patients will be treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed the long-awaited 10 Year Plan. The government describes the change as a “brand-new era for the NHS” promising to deliver one of the most seismic shifts in care in the history of the health service.
The launch of a Neighbourhood Health Service will see pioneering teams, some based entirely under one roof, set up in local communities across the country, to dramatically improve access to the NHS. As part of the government’s aim to shift care out of hospitals and into the community, they will free up overstrained hospitals from perpetual firefighting so they can focus on delivering only the best, most cutting-edge, and personalised care.
These neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services right on people’s doorsteps – stopping them from having to make lengthy trip to hospitals. Neighbourhood teams will include staff like nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, palliative care staff, and paramedics. Community health workers and volunteers will play a pivotal role in these teams, and local areas will be encouraged to trial innovative schemes like community outreach door-to-door – to detect early signs of illness and reduce pressure on GPs and A&E.
Launching the government’s 10 Year Health Plan on 3 July, the Prime Minister set out how moving care from hospitals to the community is one of the three key shifts required to tackle the inherited challenges and neglect of the NHS, make sure it is equipped to look after a modern society, and ensure people feel the change and improvements in healthcare that they voted for.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Our 10 Year Health Plan will fundamentally rewire and future-proof our NHS so that it puts care on people’s doorsteps, harnesses game-changing tech and prevents illness in the first place. That means giving everyone access to GPs, nurses, and wider support all under one roof in their neighbourhood - rebalancing our health system so that it fits around patients’ lives, not the other way round.
“This is not an overnight fix, but our Plan for Change is already turning the tide on years of decline with over four million extra appointments, 1,900 more GPs and waiting lists at their lowest level for two years. But there’s more to come. This government is giving patients easier, quicker and more convenient care, wherever they live.”
The plan follows Lord Darzi’s diagnosis of the challenges facing the NHS last year where he assessed it was in a ‘critical condition’ as a result of deep rooted issues including low productivity, poor staff morale, a failure to keep up with new technology, rising waiting times, and a deterioration in the health of the nation.
Built around three key shifts: hospital to community; analogue to digital; and sickness to prevention, the reforms within the plan will deliver the government’s promise to stop rising waiting lists, deliver more convenient care, and tackle inequalities across the country.
New health centres will house the neighbourhood teams, which will eventually be open 12 hours a day, six days a week within local communities. They will not only bring historically hospital-based services into the community - diagnostics, post-operative care, and rehab - but will also offer services like debt advice, employment support and stop smoking or weight management, all of which will help tackle issues which affect people’s health.
The status quo of ‘hospital by default’ will end, with a new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digital-by-default, in a patient’s home where possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary. This approach will make access to healthcare more convenient for patients and easier to fit around their day to day lives, rather than disrupting people’s work and personal lives.
Thousands more GPs will be trained under the 10 Year Health Plan, as the government lays the groundwork to bring back the family doctor, end the 8am scramble and make it easier to see your GP when you need to instead of having to turn to A&E.
The government says its plan will bring the NHS into the digital age, making sure staff benefit from the advantages and efficiencies available from new technology. This includes rolling out groundbreaking new tools over the next two years to support GPs. AI scribes will end the need for clinical notetaking, letter drafting, and manual data entry to free up clinicians’ time to focus on treating patients. Saving just 90 seconds on each GP appointment can save the same time as adding 2,000 more doctors into general practice.
The government will also use digital telephony so all phone calls to GP practices are answered quickly. For those who need it, they will get a digital or telephone consultation the same day they request it.