The NHS 10 year health plan explained

The government is introducing new neighbourhood health services across the country, bringing diagnostics, mental health, post-op, rehab, and nursing to your home. Millions of patients will be treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals.

Community health

Neighbourhood health centres will house many more services under one roof and will be open at evenings and weekends. The Plan for Change will also train thousands more family doctors, transform hospital outpatient appointments and provide personalised care plans for people with complex needs.

The neighbourhood health service will see teams, some based entirely under one roof, set up in local communities across the country, to improve access to the NHS. By shifting care out of hospitals and into the community, overstrained hospitals will have greater ability to focus on delivering better personalised care.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says: “The NHS should be there for everyone, whenever they need it. This 10 Year Health Plan will put care on people’s doorsteps. That means giving everyone access to GPs, nurses, and wider support all under one roof in their neighbourhood.”

Neighbourhood health centres

The neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services closer to homes – preventing lengthy trips to hospitals. Neighbourhood teams will include nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, palliative care staff and paramedics.

Community health workers and volunteers will also play a role in these teams. Local areas will be encouraged to trial schemes such as community outreach door-to-door - to detect early signs of illness and reduce pressure on GPs and A&E.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting says: "This Plan for Change will keep patients healthy and out of hospital, with care closer to home and in the home.”

More services and longer opening times

The new health centres housing the neighbourhood teams will eventually be open 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. The centres will bring traditionally hospital-based services into the community – such as diagnostics, post-operative care, and rehab.

The centres will also offer services such as debt advice, employment support, stop smoking, or weight management. The government says that training more doctors will make it easier to see your GP when you need to, instead of having to turn to A&E.

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive at the British Heart Foundation says: "The plan lays the foundation for how we can stop more lives lost too soon to heart disease, prevent more heart attacks and strokes, and help more people live with healthier hearts for longer.”

Technology advancements

The plan includes rolling out ground breaking new tools over the next 2 years to support GPs. AI scribes will end the need for clinical notetaking, letter drafting and manual data entry to free up clinicians’ time to focus on treating patients.

Saving just 90 seconds on each GP appointment can save the same time as adding 2,000 more doctors into general practice. Digital telephony will mean phone calls to GP practices are answered quickly. If you need it, you will get a digital or telephone consultation the same day you request it.

Improved dentist access

The plan will also help tackle the current poor access to dentists. Dental care professionals will work as part of neighbourhood teams - dental therapists can undertake check-ups, treatment, and referrals, while dental nurses can give education and advice to parents or work with schools and community groups.

The work therapists cannot do would be directed to dentists. The plan will also improve access to dental care for children, making better use of the wider dental workforce, especially dental therapists.

Successful trials

Where neighbourhood health teams have been trialled in England, they reduced hospital use. In Derby, integrated teams led to 2,300 fewer category 3 ambulance callouts and 1,400 fewer short hospital stays among the over 65 population within a year.