SoR welcomes largest ever public consultation on future of the NHS

The Health Secretary has announced the largest public NHS consultation ever undertaken, as he launched plans to digitise the service under the government’s 10-year plan.

People from across the UK are being asked to participate in the consultation, sharing their views on the NHS, what is working well and what needs improving, their experiences and ideas for improving healthcare in the future.

These contributions will help feed into the 10 Year Health Plan, due to be published in spring 2025, which will focus on three main shifts in healthcare: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

'Our opinions matter'

Richard Evans, CEO of the SoR, said: “The consultation announced over the weekend should be welcomed with an encouragement for members to respond both as healthcare professionals and as patients.

“Inevitably people will wonder whether another plan will really work and how it will affect existing projects and good work. However, this time everyone has the chance to feed in ideas and opinions to the consultation. 

“Our opinions matter as people at the heart of healthcare. We are also all users of the NHS, so it’s vital that our voice is heard.”

The online consultation platform can be accessed here.

'Fit for the future'

Launching the consultation, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Today the NHS is going through the worst crisis in its history. But while the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten. Together, we can fix it. Whether you use the NHS or work in it, you see first-hand what’s great, but also what isn’t working. We need your ideas to help turn the NHS around.

“In order to save the things we love about the NHS, we need to change it. Our 10 Year Health Plan will transform the NHS to make it fit for the future, and it will have patients’ and staff’s fingerprints all over it.

“It is vital the government hears from patients, experts and the NHS workforce to make sure we get this right and preserve the things people value about the health service.”

Transforming the NHS

As part of the first shift “from hospital to community”, the government aims to deliver new neighbourhood health centres closer to homes and communities, where patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors or mental health specialists.

In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will bring together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App. 

Laws are set to be introduced to make NHS patient health records available across all NHS trusts, GP surgeries and ambulance services in England – in the hope of speeding up patient care, reducing repeat medical tests and minimising medication errors.

By moving from sickness to prevention, the government seeks to shorten the amount of time people spend in-ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen.

'Short-term crisis management to long-term strategic planning'

Dean Rogers, executive director of industrial strategy for the Society of Radiographers, said:  “The Society of Radiographers welcomes the opportunity to help shape the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS. The SoR is eager to engage positively with the government – and to be part of the solution to the crisis in the NHS. 

“Our Radiography Manifesto, published earlier this year, highlights some of the steps we believe are necessary to transform the NHS. We have long emphasised the need to move from short-term crisis management to long-term strategic planning – with long-term funding to match. So we are encouraged that this seems to be the government’s intention now.  

“Whatever changes take place over the next 10 years, we know that the NHS will need more radiographers.”

This consultation follows on from Lord Ara Darzi’s independent report into the health service, which concluded the NHS is in a ‘critical condition’, with surging waiting lists and a deterioration in the nation’s underlying health, identifying serious and widespread problems for people accessing services. 

(Image: NHS Change)