Health secretary Wes Streeting today (October 21) launched “the biggest national conversation about the future of the NHS”, urging the “public, clinicians and experts…to submit ideas” for a “10-year health plan”.
The “public engagement exercise” will be active on the NHS App and a new “Change NHS online platform” until the start of next year, the government said.
The consultation is open to the “entire nation” – including those who work “in health and care in England”, it added.
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“Responses will shape the government’s 10-year health plan to fix the broken health service” and “overhaul” the NHS, the government said.
It added that the health plan, which “will be published in spring 2025”, will be “underlined by three big shifts in healthcare: hospital to community, analogue to digital [and] sickness to prevention”.
The shift to community care will be delivered through “new neighbourhood health centres, which will be closer to homes and communities”, it said.
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“Patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors or mental health specialists, all under the same roof,” it added.
It remains unclear why pharmacists have not been included in these proposed “neighbourhood health centres”.
“We have a clear plan to fix the health service, but it’s only right that we hear from the people who rely on the NHS every day to have their say and shape our plan as we deliver it,” Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said.
At the time of publication, there were already 481 responses from members of the public and 275 from NHS staff.
“Answer this rallying cry”
Reacting to the announcement today, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Paul Rees said that “a neighbourhood health service means investing in our amazing community pharmacy network”.
“But the reality is that many pharmacies could be forced to close down before the 10-year plan is even published in spring 2025,” he warned.
“We hope the government will take this opportunity to fix the crisis in community pharmacy and unleash [its] potential to make a real difference to patients,” Rees added.
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Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck said that “community pharmacy can be the backbone of the NHS 10-year plan”.
“With the right support and investment, pharmacies can answer this rallying cry, driving prevention and community care interventions that save lives and money,” she added.
“I urge the entire pharmacy community to get behind this message and engage with the government’s consultation,” she stressed.
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And Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England chair Tase Oputu said that “the 10-Year health plan must consider how pharmacists can be enabled to support the best use of medicines across the system”.
She added that “supporting patient access to community pharmacies should be at the heart of the new neighbourhood health service”.
Last month, Lord Darzi’s landmark independent investigation of the NHS in England was published, touting the “huge potential” of pharmacists.