The government has launched an online engagement platform for members of the public, NHS staff and experts to share their ideas to shape the government’s 10 Year Health Plan.
Change.NHS.uk will be live until the start of 2025, 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.
In a press release, published on 21 October 2024, Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary said: “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.”
Plans were also announced to bring together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results, and letters in one place, through the NHS App.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), said the single patient record “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”.
It added that 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.
“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,” the DHSC adds.
The plans are part of the government’s pledge to move from sickness to prevention and will explore the opportunities smart watches and other wearable tech may offer patients with diabetes or high blood pressure, so they can monitor their health at home.
Keir Starmer, prime minister, said: “We have a clear plan to fix the health service, but it’s only right that we hear from the people who rely on the NHS every day to have their say and shape our plan as we deliver it.”
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive at NHS England, said: “NHS staff are facing an unprecedented number of challenges – with record demand for care, alongside growing pressures from an ageing population, rising levels of multiple long-term illnesses and patients with more complex needs.
“And they are often hampered by working in crumbling buildings with outdated tech, meaning too many patients are waiting too long for care they need.
“So, it is vital the health service innovates and adapts – as it has always done throughout its 76-year history – to design and deliver an NHS fit for the future.
“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.”
The start of this national conversation on the future of the NHS follows on from Lord Ara Darzi’s independent report into the health service, published on 12 September 2024, that diagnosed its “critical condition”.
Commenting on the government’s plans Lord Darzi said: “As my recent investigation found, the NHS is in need of urgent and fundamental reform.
“The 10 Year Health Plan comes at a crucial moment—and by describing the ultimate destination for the health service, it will help improve decision-making in the here and now.”
Rachel Power, chief executive at the Patients Association “warmly welcomed” the initiative to engage with patients, staff, and the public.
“This national conversation, initiated by the government, marks a significant step towards genuine patient partnership and puts patients at the heart of the NHS’s evolution,” she said.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, added: “No one working in the NHS will argue that it works perfectly – its staff have been crying out for change and we hope the ten-year plan will deliver for them and their communities, including by listening to the reality of their experiences and by incorporating the many examples of best practice and innovation that are taking place across the country.”
The launch of the online platform will take place at a health centre in East London, where Streeting will meet with the chief executive of the London Ambulance Service before the first engagement event involving NHS staff from across the healthcare system as a start to the national conversation.
