What should be in the new NHS plan?
The NHS’s long-term plan should focus on primary care, community services, social care and public health interventions that prevent ill health, according to the NHS Confederation.
The organisation, which represents various groups within the NHS, has published an infographic detailing 10 steps it would like to see included in the new NHS plan which has been promised for later this year.
Niall Dickson, the confederation’s chief executive, released the steps in response to the government’s long-term NHS funding settlement. He called on the government to use the extra money to transform the NHS, rather than ‘propping up current ways of working’.
The 10 steps include a call for patient-centred care, focussing on primary care, community care and social care.
Another of the steps says that mental health must be on an equal footing with physical health.
There is also much talk of demand management, partly through improved public health interventions and partly through better integration of health and social care services — including improvements to the way the NHS and local authorities interact.
Further information
NHS Confederation: Ten steps towards a new plan for the NHS in England