Millions of patients will be treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has announced, as – in the words of the Department of Health and Social Care – the Government’s Fit For The Future – 10 Year Health Plan for England, published today (3 July), ‘delivers a brand new era’ for the NHS, and ‘one of the most seismic shifts in care in the history of the health service.’
The DHSC and the Prime Minister’s Office say the launch of a Neighbourhood Health Service will see ‘pioneering teams, some based entirely under one roof’, set up in local communities countrywide, ‘to dramatically improve access to the NHS’.’ The press release announcing the news explained: “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, 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’.
Keir Starmer said: “The NHS should be there for everyone, whenever they need it, but we inherited a health system in crisis, addicted to a sticking plaster approach, and unable to face up to the challenges we face now, let alone in the future. That ends now. Because it’s reform or die. 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.”
He continued: “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.”
The DHSC says new health centres will house the neighbourhood teams, which will eventually be open 12 hours a day, six days a week within local communities. It said: “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 we know affect people’s health.”
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, added: “Our 10 Year Health Plan will turn the NHS on its head, delivering one of the most fundamental changes in the way we receive our healthcare in history. By shifting from hospital to community, we will finally bring down devastating hospital waiting lists, and stop patients going from pillar to post to get treated.”
THE DHSC and Prime Minister’s Office say 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.
The DHSC added: “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 8 am scramble, and make it easier to see your GP when you need to, instead of having to turn to A&E.”
