The NHS 10 year plan: What we know so far
The government's long-awaited 10-year plan for the NHS will be published on Thursday.The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, pledged the plan's creation in response to Lord Darzi's review of the NHS, published in September 2024, which found the service to be in a 'critical' and 'deteriorating' condition.
The plan is set to focus on three big shifts: analogue to digital, hospital to community and sickness to prevention.
Several announcements have been made over recent weeks, but the full plan will be published by the government on Thursday morning.
Here's what we know so far:
Care closer to home
One of the major shifts the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, is keen to promote is to move care from hospitals and into the community. The aim here being to free up hospital resource whilst providing services – such as scans, blood tests and follow up appointments – closer to the patient's home.
Structural reform
There have also been a number of structural reforms announced.
In March, the Health Secretary announced the abolition of NHS England to "cut bureaucracy" and reform how the National Health Service is run.
Around 9,000 administrative roles are expected to be cut at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care – roughly half of all roles at the two organisations.Last week, the government announced that hundreds of bodies responsible for overseeing and running parts of the NHS in England will be scrapped - such as Healthwatch England, which advocates on behalf of patients, and the National Guardian's Office, which supports whistleblowers.
Wes Streeting says the current system is 'overly complex' and 'oversight has been left to spiral out of control'.
NHS App expansion
The government is keen to promote the use of the NHS app and expand its capabilities.
They say it will become the 'digital front door' to the NHS, both navigating a patient to the relevant services, whist providing information and advice.Under the plan, patients will be able to access mental health support directly through the NHS app, including self-referral for talking therapies, without needing a GP appointment.
The government have also announced it will become easier to access vaccines and health screenings via the NHS app.
Cervical screening
Patients across England who haven't yet come forward for the cervical screening programme will be offered home-testing kits under the 10 Year Plan.
The government say 5 million women in England are not currently up to date with their routine check-up, and they hope self-sampling kits represent 'healthcare that works around people's lives'.
AI early warning system
The Department of Health is also keen to use AI to warn of patient safety concerns.
They say patients will receive better care thanks to the development of a world-first AI early warning system, which will be able to read hospital data and identify where things are going wrong to help stop failures before things escalate.
There have been growing concerns about safety in the NHS in recent years after a spate of scandals, including within mental health and maternity services.
Tackling health inequalities
The Health Secretary has also announced what he describes as a 'radical' package of measures to tackle health inequalities, freeing up £2.2 billion, to move resources - like medicines and equipment - to communities that are most in need.
Streeting will also make changes to the way GP funding is distributed to help working class communities and coastal areas, and 'end the postcode lottery' of care.
'Where towns have the greatest health needs and the fewest GPs, we will prioritise investment to rebuild your NHS and rebuild the health of your community.'
DNA testing at birth
The government also hope to map the DNA of every newborn baby to assess their risk of developing hundreds of diseases.
The scheme is part of the drive to predict and prevent illness, rather than cure it.
The Health Secretary says it will enable the NHS to "leapfrog disease, so we're in front of it rather than reacting to it".
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Powys cross border patients miss out on £120m NHS cash
Powys' cross border patients have been cut out of £120 million of new Welsh NHS funding. It has emerged that a £120 million fund that the Welsh Government announced last month to cut waiting times for Welsh patients will not include funding for Powys residents waiting for treatment in England. Starting this week, some Powys patients will wait longer than English patients, when being treated in hospitals in England. The plans to intentionally make patients wait longer by Powys Teaching Health Board were agreed back in March. Powys patients are now facing slower access to treatment in English hospitals despite available capacity. Powys Teaching Health Board has said it needed to bring about this action to live within its means and to respond to the financial expectations set out by the Welsh Government. Montgomeryshire MS, Russell George, said that when news of a £120 million fund was announced last month to cut waiting times for Welsh patients, he wrote to the Health Secretary Jeremy Miles MS, and asked him to set out how the £120 million would benefit Powys patients who are on a waiting list in England. After further questioning by Mr Geroge in the Senedd, Mr Miles confirmed that the funding would be targeted at Welsh health board waiting lists. 'Powys residents, who are waiting to be seen in other Welsh health boards, will also benefit from the additional funding,' said Mr Miles. 'As of April 2025, there were 380 outpatient pathways from Powys waiting more than 52 weeks at other Welsh health boards. 'This additional funding to support our ambitious plan to continue reducing long waits and the overall size of the wating list is targeted at Welsh health board waiting lists.' Help support trusted local news Sign up for a digital subscription now: As a digital subscriber you will get Unlimited access to the County Times website Advert-light access Reader rewards Full access to our app Mr George MS, said that people in Powys feel 'short-changed', and challenged the Health Secretary to ensure Powys Teaching Health Board receives sufficient funding to purchase healthcare based on shorter English waiting time standards, adding that the current situation 'treats Powys patients as second-class citizens''. 'After the debate, it's clearer than ever that the Welsh Government is again letting Powys down,' said Mr George. 'I again asked for clarification, and yet, Jeremy Miles MS did not address my requests that this additional funding should be used to pay hospitals just over the border in England to treat Powys patients, in the same timeframes as English patients are treated in the same hospitals. 'People in Powys will wait longer than patients just over the border, for the same treatment, in the same hospitals, due to the Welsh Government not being prepared to fund Powys Teaching Health Board adequately. 'This means Powys residents will wait longer for treatment because of financial constraints. 'This is a failure of political will, not resources.'
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
NHS Scotland patients waiting more than 78 weeks for treatment skyrockets
NHS has seen figures half after launching a 10-year recovery plan - but Scotland lags far behind. THE number of patients waiting more than 78 weeks for treatment in Scotland has rocketed to 38,070 while in England the figure has halved to just 1154. The shocking statistic means 33 times more people are being forced to endure excruciating long delays north of the Border. It comes as NHS England launches a 10-year recovery plan along with plans for an updated app allowing patients to book appointment and even visit an 'AI doctor'. Dr Zubir Ahmed, a surgeon turned Labour MP for Glasgow South West, said: 'After a 20 year career as a surgeon in the NHS – the majority of it working in Govan – I have seen the Scottish NHS at its best and now at its worst. 'Scotland's NHS has seen the 31-day and 62-day cancer waiting times standards missed, 860,000 Scots are stuck on NHS waiting lists for tests with a third considering private treatment. 'In the words of the esteemed chair of the BMA Dr Iain Kennedy, 'the figures show that the NHS is dying before our very eyes'. 'The NHS is dying despite more staff working ever harder and more money being spent on it than ever before. 'The frustrating part for me as someone who has worked in the NHS all my adult life is the solutions to these challenges lie within the NHS but in Scotland, we don't have a government that has the desire or will to change direction.' Ahmed has called for a greater use of technology to help drive up performance. He added: 'The UK Labour government will deliver a single patient digital health record controlled by the patient and accessible to any health professional that you want to see it. 'There will be neighbourhood health centres with advanced diagnostics capability open 12 hours a day, six days a week. 'The 10-year plan would mean an NHS in your pocket with a turbocharged NHS app to book and check appointments, interact with specialists who care for you and an AI enabled doctor next to you. 'While being able to contribute to this revolution excites me, it frustrates me too because, in the Scottish NHS, we remain on a different path of managed decline. 'We continue to churn analogue solutions for a digital age, burden staff with more administration and keep patients more and more at arm's length from their own healthcare information. 'There is no Scottish NHS app, no proper workforce plan and no strategy on how to embrace technology and no desire to learn the lessons how to do it better from other parts of the country. ' Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie added: 'Scotland's NHS is fighting for survival but the SNP is flat out of ideas. Elsewhere in the UK, people will benefit from falling NHS waiting lists, a cutting-edge NHS app and a comprehensive recovery plan. 'If the SNP was capable of fixing the crisis in our NHS, it would have done it by now. Our NHS might not survive a third decade of SNP government.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'Latest figures show monthly A&E performance at its best since July 2023 and delayed discharge at its lowest since October 2023. 'Our plan to improve our NHS is working and we will build on this progress by increasing capacity and investing to tackle the longest waits to ensure patients get faster access to care.'
South Wales Guardian
4 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
First doctors in UK to graduate through part-time study celebrate
The University of Edinburgh group has completed an 'innovative' five-year programme, known as HCP-Med for Healthcare Professionals, which aims to offer people already working in health the flexibility to become doctors. It is open exclusively to existing healthcare professionals, clinical scientists and veterinary surgeons living and working in Scotland. The course has been designed to address the increasing demand on the healthcare workforce in Scotland and has a strong emphasis on GP placements. The first three years of the undergraduate course are conducted part-time and mainly online, so that students can study in their own time while balancing work and other commitments. After completing their remote studies, students then join the university's full-time undergraduate medical programme for the final two years and carry out a range of clinical placements in GP practice and hospital wards. Dr Jen Kennedy, programme director HCP-MED, said: 'We have lots of incredibly talented people working within the NHS in Scotland who may have missed the traditional route to become doctors. 'By creating this new pathway and widening access to medical degrees, we are able to nurture their talent and use their valuable experience to enhance the healthcare workforce.' Calum MacDonald, who started his career as a staff nurse in an intensive care unit in Glasgow, is part of the first cohort of students who graduated from the programme on Saturday. His experience working in intensive care and subsequent training to become an advanced critical care practitioner, a role he has held since 2016, led him to consider a career as a doctor. He became a father in his second year of the course and the programme enabled him to stay in Glasgow and balance work with part time study and family life. Now a newly qualified doctor, he has secured a foundation post in Glasgow and will rotate across seven specialties. He said: 'I'm very proud to fly the flag for the HCP-Med programme – it's been a challenging but incredibly rewarding journey. 'Being able to continue working as a nurse while studying medicine was a huge financial incentive. I am delighted to be graduating today and am excited to start my placement as a junior doctor in Glasgow.' He is considering specialising in anaesthetics or general practice. Alongside the part-time study, students receive full funding from the Scottish Funding Council which the university said makes it an attractive route to retrain for those already working within the healthcare industry. Professor David Kluth, head of Edinburgh Medical School, said: 'I am very proud that Edinburgh is the first university in the UK to offer this innovative part-time programme. 'We are committed to doing all we can to empower individuals to reach their full potential and to widen access to medicine for future generations. 'The students on this programme bring with them a rich diversity of backgrounds, experiences and skills – from prior careers to lived experience of the communities they will serve. 'This breadth of talent and perspective is vital in building a more inclusive, adaptable, and effective medical workforce for Scotland.'
