Change for the NHS is always a time for opportunity as well as challenge.

The NHS is no stranger to reform. We’ve been here many times before through the decade including countless name changes for the organisations that manage or supervise healthcare. 

This time though it feels different. Anyone who’s tried to book a GP appointment or is trying to fund, find or deliver the best care will agree that it’s been a challenge, particularly in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Waiting lists have been at record levels. Attracting and retaining staff has been difficult with high vacancy rates. Demand for services are rising exponentially alongside costs for the latest medicines and treatments. 

That’s the challenges covered so what are the opportunities. 

Focus on Prevention and Early Intervention 

One of the central pillars of the 10-year plan is a shift towards preventing illness before it starts. This means more investment in public health campaigns—tackling smoking, obesity, and alcohol misuse. The plan emphasises a renewed focus on early detection of major diseases like cancer and heart conditions, aiming for lives to be saved through rapid diagnosis and intervention. 

Boosting Mental Health Services 

Mental health care is finally being given parity with physical health. More funding and resources are promised for mental health crisis care, community services, and support for children and young people. The plan seeks to improve access and reduce waiting times, recognising the critical role mental health plays in overall wellbeing. 

Harnessing Technology and Innovation 

The NHS app will be transformed into a virtual doctor in patients’ pockets. AI will be used for administrative tasks. Wearables that monitor various health and fitness metrics will become standard in preventive, chronic and post-acute treatment on the NHS by 2035. 

One stop shops for integrated care 

A network of 250-300 community health hubs and the expansion of urgent treatment centres are planned to bring an end to hospital outpatients at we know it. The idea: to keep people out of hospital whenever possible, supporting them in their communities and at home. 

How our clients are responding to change 

For clients of ours such as NHS Property Services, the changes will provide a new focus for their work managing the NHS estate. Ministers, for example, want 50 of the new community health hubs up and running by 2029, offering a range of services at least 12 hours a day, six days a week. It’s going to keep them busy. 

The selected sites will be a mixture of upgrades, refurbs of existing locations, expansion and in some case new builds. Priorities over where to spend finite resources will determine that decision. 

Everon Group, based in Kent but with operations in Sweden and Finland, meanwhile has developed a cloud-based, wireless digital platform to provide care providers with the data insights they needed to step in before people need hospital treatment. They are also embracing technology that allows nurse checks and routine maintenance or system upgrades to be checked remotely. 

For them, the NHS 10-year plan is the starting for wider reform, including an overhaul of adult social care that we expect to hear more about next year when Baroness Louise Casey delivers the first findings of her independent commission. Technology enabled care will play an important part in delivering the switch to a more prevention-led model of care that the government is keen to introduce over the next decade.