The Government have set out a new course for the NHS, with the publication of their 10 Year Health Plan for England, explaining how they intend to reinvent the Service through three primary shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention
The full plan can be read here.
Here we give air to many of the responses to the plan that we have received today.
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England:
‘This is a plan that talks our language – prevention, personalisation, community-based care. But we’ve heard similar aspirations before, and the challenge has always been implementation. The NHS cannot deliver this vision alone. If adult social care is not put at the centre of delivery – not just as a partner, but as a leader – this plan will falter.
‘The plan speaks to a future we’ve already been building. But vision alone isn’t enough. Providers need clarity, investment, and status. Without a clear role for adult social care, this plan will leave a gap between policy and reality.
‘This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape care and health around people’s needs, not system convenience. But we need to see investment in social care infrastructure, digital inclusion, and workforce strategy. The Government must now give as much attention to social care reform as it has to NHS reform – or neither will succeed.
‘Neighbourhood Health Services could transform how people experience care. But without social care at the centre, they risk becoming a brilliant idea lost in translation. If we’re serious about delivering care closer to home, we must start by backing the sector already delivering it.’
Kathryn Marsden OBE (formerly Kathryn Smith), Chief Executive of Social Care Institute for Excellence:
‘Health and social care are two sides of the same coin. You cannot deliver meaningful reform in one without sustained, strategic attention to the other.
‘The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a welcome ambition to move care closer to home, to focus on prevention, and to invest in digital tools, but these aims will fall short unless they are matched by a coherent, long-term vision for social care. While SCIE has welcomed the Casey Commission and its forthcoming work, the Commission is not due to report until 2028. By then, healthcare reform will be three years ahead of a roadmap for social care reform.
‘Social care supports people to leave hospital safely, helps them stay well at home, and to live meaningful, independent lives. That’s why the success of the Neighbourhood Health Service rests on the strength and stability of our social care infrastructure. Neighbourhood working, at its best, is about trust, shared decision-making and holistic, person-centred care. If we want a future NHS that is proactive rather than reactive, social care should be recognised as a driver of wellbeing and prevention in our communities.
‘The government has set an ambitious mission of building an NHS fit for the future. SCIE calls on government and NHS leaders to bring the care and health sectors together as equal partners to deliver the Plan’s aims for prevention, wellbeing, community support and tackling inequalities.’
Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund:
‘People’s faith in the founding principles of the NHS remains strong, but their belief that the NHS will be there for them in times of need has fractured in recent years. The test for this plan is whether the public believe it will be different this time, and whether people’s satisfaction with services can be restored relatively quickly. Now the government has published its health plan, everything rests on how the government will work with all parts of the health and care system to deliver on its commitments.
‘We won’t necessarily feel the changes tomorrow or even next year, but if the NHS and its staff are given the support, resources and political cover to deliver the changes the plan proposes, in five to ten years’ time the health system could feel very different.’
John Ramsay, founder and CEO of Social-Ability said:
‘Following a disappointing spending review last month, the launch of Labour’s 10-year NHS plan is a welcome step towards community-based care whereby support can be delivered closer to home.
‘Currently, one in four hospital beds are occupied by someone living with dementia- not always because they need acute medical care, but because community support simply isn’t there. Real community care means having day centres that can provide meaningful activities and respite for families, home care workers who understand dementia and local support groups that don’t have month-long waiting lists. Without this, the NHS will continue to be at risk of collapse.
‘Labour’s talk of integration and community care sounds promising, but without real, sustained funding, it risks being just words. We need to know where the money will come from and what this will actually look like on the ground. When it comes to social care, investment in local community facilities is essential for providing support and improving the quality of life of both local residents and carers.
‘The 10-year plan offers a vision, but now it’s time for clear commitments. Improving social care options within local communities needs to be central, not sidelined, in the future of our health and care system.’
Charlotte Harpin, Partner specialising in integrated care systems at Browne Jacobson:
‘Embracing the concept of neighbourhood-based care is essential to realising the ambitious shifts from hospital to community, and more broadly sickness to prevention.
‘We expect a new tranche of primary care hubs that bring together physical and mental health services, with community and primary care under one roof, easing stress on both GP practices and hospitals.
‘While integrated care boards will commission these hubs, there must be greater acceptance of the role the private sector will play supporting and working with the NHS to achieve the ambition in the 10-year health plan.
‘We expect that new primary care arrangements will be put in place at a national level to reform the way in which general medical services are commissioned.
‘It is also expected the new neighbourhood approach will lead to access to care six days a week, making it much easier for people to get tests and receive treatment much closer to home.’
Chris Fleming, Partner and Health Sector Lead at Public Digital:
‘The government has rightly put digital at the heart of their plans to transform the NHS, with a series of bold and exciting plans for the NHS App and five big bets around the role of technology.
‘This level of ambition and clarity of vision will be warmly welcomed by the NHS and industry.
‘However, the NHS App does almost too good a job of masking the institutional and technological complexity that sits behind its services.
‘Delivering these bold ambitions will require fundamental changes to NHS plumbing. To be successful, the government needs to focus as much on the ‘how’ as the ‘what’ of digital delivery.
‘This means seeing digital as organisational and cultural transformation rather than simply buying or building technology; and taking an iterative, test-and-learn approach to delivering new services.’
Jill Mason, partner and Head of Health & Care at Mills & Reeve:
‘The sector has been waiting with bated breath for the NHS 10 Year Health Plan ever since the Prime Minster first pledged to create it following Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS last September.
‘Given the size of the NHS there is a lot for the plan to cover! There is much to digest around key areas such as primary care and neighbourhood health, mental health, digital transformation and AI. It’s a seminal moment for the NHS and fascinating for all stakeholders in both the public and independent sector.
‘The next phase of the 10-year plan will be critical. While this lays the foundations for an exciting future, the pace of change and the cost of implementation will need to be carefully balanced to bring this document to life and to fulfil its promise.’
Joseph Brunwin, UK Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists:
‘This long-awaited plan sets out an encouraging vision for the future of health and care – with a clear focus on prevention, digital transformation and delivering more care in the community. These are all areas where occupational therapy already makes a vital contribution and we welcome the alignment with our own workforce strategy.
‘Occupational therapists have the skills and insight to be at the heart of neighbourhood health services – working across communities to keep people well and connected to the support they need close to home. They are central to preventing hospital admissions, supporting mental health and enabling people to do the activities – occupations – they want and need to do.
‘But there aren’t enough occupational therapists and many people are waiting too long for the support they desperately need. So, while we’re encouraged that the government will publish a new 10-Year Workforce Plan, it’s imperative that this delivers an enlarged and strengthened occupational therapy workforce to achieve these ambitions.
‘We look forward to working with government, the NHS, and partners across health and social care to embed occupational therapy across systems where they can have most impact, ease pressure on frontline services and help people stay well for longer and live their best life.’
James Townsend, CEO & co-founder of the UK’s largest community of unpaid carers, Mobilise:
‘The 10-Year Plan marks a welcome shift in how unpaid carers are seen and supported. Carers are not simply stakeholders, but key partners in the delivery of care. But we must ensure carers are also heard and recognised as essential to the future of our health and care systems.
”My Carer’ must be co-produced with carers to make the new NHS app feature as useful as possible. Training and accessibility will be vital for the tool to work for carers in the real world.
‘The shift towards more community-based care is also promising, but risks placing more pressure on families and friends. We must take seriously the increased burden that this can create for carers – and ensure support structures are there to match.’
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