The NHS 10 Year Plan to make the NHS fit for the future

The Government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England has been launched, setting out a bold, ambitious and necessary new course for the NHS.

The plan fundamentally reinvents our national approach to healthcare so that we can guarantee the NHS will be there for all who need it for generations to come.

It has been shaped by the experiences and expectations of members of the public, patients, our partners and the health and care workforce across the country, reflecting the changes that people wanted to see.

Through the ‘three shifts’ – from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention – we will personalise care, give more power to patients, and ensure that the best of the NHS is available to all.

What will this look like in mid and south Essex?

Work is already underway locally that supports the ambitions outlined in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, framed around the three key shifts in how healthcare is planned, coordinated and delivered. These three shifts are already embedded in our local roadmap for the next five years.

Here are some examples of how this is already taking shape locally:

From hospital to community

Providing care closer to home and reducing unnecessary hospital visits is central to plans to improve health outcomes for local people, and are at the heart of what Integrated Neighbourhood Teams do.

Read about a local example in Basildon where patients are already benefitting from proactive, personalised, and joined-up care in their local community: Bringing the vision of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams to life in Essex – Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System

From analogue to digital

This shift will be key in delivering an NHS that is fit for the future.  Locally, our Shared Care Record is already making a huge difference for patients and staff alike. The digital system has already been used over 638,000 times, with healthcare professionals viewing almost 1,000,000 documents to support safer, faster, and more joined-up care. Find out more about the Shared Care Record and the real-world impact it’s already making for local people.

From treatment to prevention

Reaching patients earlier will help prevent illness, improve health outcomes for local people, and ensure services are sustainable and available when people need them. From preventative oral health programmes for young people, to helping identify lung cancer early in those most at risk through the Lung Cancer Screening programme, through to rolling out our award winning tool, FrEDA, which supports healthcare staff to provide holistic care for patients with the most complex needs – preventative, proactive care is key to helping people to live healthy and well.