Kier Starmer has this morning launched a public consultation billed as the “biggest national conversation” ever about the future of the NHS
Patients, NHS staff and experts are all being urged to submit their ideas for an overhaul of the health service online or via the NHS app.
The responses, say the Government will help shape their 10-year plan for how to fix the NHS.
A summary of the results will be published in the spring
the conversation will be underlined by three big shifts in healthcare – hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.
As part of the first shift “from hospital to community”, the government wants to deliver plans for new neighbourhood health centres, which will be closer to homes and communities.
Patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors, or mental health specialists, all under the same roof.
In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results, and letters in one place, through the NHS App. It 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. 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 – speeding up patient care, reducing repeat medical tests, and minimising medication errors.
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.
By moving from sickness to prevention, government wants to shorten the amount of time people spend in-ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen. As an example, the 10 Year Health Plan will explore the opportunities smart watches and other wearable tech may offer patients with diabetes or high blood pressure, so they can monitor their own health from the comfort of their own home.
