02-07-2025
The NHS 10 year plan: What we know so far
Words by Helena Lambert, ITV News Health Producer
The government's long-awaited 10-year plan for the NHS will be published on 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 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 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".
