The Department of Health and Social Care has launched the NHS’s new Long-Term Plan.
The 10-year plan includes measures to prevent 150,000 heart attacks, strokes and dementia cases, and better access to mental health services for adults and children.
The NHS Long Term Plan is a new plan for the NHS to improve the quality of patient care and health outcomes. It sets out how the £20.5 billion budget settlement for the NHS, announced by the Prime Minister in summer 2018, will be spent over the next 5 years. You can read this announcement on the Department of Health and Social Care’s website, here.
The plan focuses on building an NHS fit for the future by:
- enabling everyone to get the best start in life
- helping communities to live well
- helping people to age well
The plan has been developed in partnership with frontline health and care staff, patients and their families. It will improve outcomes for major diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and dementia.
The plan also includes measures to:
- improve out-of-hospital care, supporting primary medical and community health services
- ensure all children get the best start in life by continuing to improve maternity safety including halving the number of stillbirths, maternal and neonatal deaths and serious brain injury by 2025
- support older people through more personalised care and stronger community and primary care services
- make digital health services a mainstream part of the NHS, so that in 5 years, patients in England will be able to access a digital GP offer
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:
The NHS long term plan, backed by a historic commitment of an extra £20.5 billion a year from taxpayers, marks an important moment not just for the health service but for the lives of millions of patients and hardworking NHS staff across the country.
Whether it’s treating ever more people in their communities, using the latest technology to tackle preventable diseases, or giving every baby the very best start in life, this government has given the NHS the multi-billion-pound investment needed to nurture and safeguard our nation’s health service for generations to come.
To find out more see the NHS Long Term Plan website.
