03/07/2025
Today, the Government finally unveiled its 10 Year Health Plan, intended to reset health and care delivery across England. After weeks of leaks and months of speculation the plan sets out a new path to addressing the biggest challenges of long waiting lists, increasing demand, stretched workforce capacity and health inequalities.
The plan focuses on eight key areas:
- Delivering care closer to home
- Embracing digital and AI to improve efficiency and outcomes
- Empowering people to make healthy choices
- A new operating model for the NHS
- An enhanced focus on transparency and quality
- A workforce that is fit for the future
- Supporting innovation to power transformation
- A new value-based approach to funding
The plan is a response to Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS from 2024 and focuses on a number of key areas including returning to the three shifts identified as necessary by Lord Darzi:
From Hospital to Community: a neighbourhood health service
The Plan sets out a significant shift in where care is delivered. Hospitals will continue to play a vital role, but areas such as long-term condition management, diagnostics, and urgent care will move into community settings.
Neighbourhood health teams and local diagnostic hubs will play a bigger role with ICBs commissioning more joined-up services across health and social care. This shift aims to improve continuity of care, reduce pressure on emergency departments, and support people to live well at home for longer.
“At its core, the neighbourhood health service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home, if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary” Executive Summary: Fit for the Future
Analogue to Digital: power in your hands
Technology is at the centre of the Plan. Together with a new Single Patient Record (SPR) the NHS App will become a “digital front door” for care, including new AI-driven tools (e.g. “My NHS GP”, “My Consult” and others). AI will used for diagnostics and early-warning safety systems and the use of robotic surgery will be increased. New technology will be fast-tracked using an “Innovator Passport” to reduce delays and duplication.
“Modern technology has given us more power over our everyday lives. But that same scale of change has yet to come to the NHS. This Plan will take the NHS from the 20th century technological laggard it is today, to the 21st century leader it has the potential to be.” Executive Summary: Fit for the Future
However, the digital transformation comes with commitments to inclusion, ensuring services remain accessible to those who prefer in-person services or cannot access digital options.
Sickness to Prevention: power to make the healthy choice
The NHS will make a decisive move toward prevention, focusing on earlier diagnosis, wider screening programmes, and stronger public health initiatives. The aim is to reduce avoidable illness and admissions, keep people healthier for longer, and relieve pressure on hospitals. Prevention will no longer be a “nice to have”, it will be a core measure of NHS performance.
“Our overall goal is to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, while increasing it for everyone, and to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.” Executive Summary: Fit for the Future
The plan has been much anticipated and discussed, and as expected it is the outline and beginning of a plan that still needs the detail and action to clearly showcase how its objectives will be achieved and what kind of timelines we can expect before we see real change.
At Bevan Brittan, we’ve advised NHS trusts, ICBs, providers and innovators through every major reform.
Over the coming months we’ll be sharing expert insights and guidance as well as hosting conversations to support the sector in navigating this new landscape.
