Reporting Back: NHS Long term

Earlier this week the Prime Minister outlined the Government’s NHS Long Term Plan. This long-term plan has come about thanks to record investment of £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023-24. The plan will transform patient care and make sure every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.

 

As your constituency MP, I have long campaigned for a long-term deal which will give our NHS enough money for the future. I welcome this announcement and wanted to write to update constituents about the key components of the NHS Long Term Plan.

 

At the heart of the plan is the principle that prevention is better than cure with £4.5 billion being invested in primary and community care – personal responsibility and promoting good health, and more rapid diagnostics and new treatments that will improve the care you receive.

 

The Government’s NHS Long Term Plan is supported by record levels of funding and shows the Government’s determination to revolutionise health and care for people at every stage of their lives.

 

The Prime Minister has said that “The launch of the NHS Long Term Plan marks an historic step to secure its future and offers a vision for the service for the next ten years, with a focus on ensuring that every pound is spent in a way that will most benefit patients. This will help relieve pressure on the NHS while providing the basis to transform care with world-class treatments”.

 

In this plan, mental health is due to get £2.3bn extra of the £20bn, while GP and community care is to get £4.5bn. NHS England explain that will help pay for:

• Mental health support in schools and 24-hour access to mental health crisis care via the NHS 111 service
• Extra support in the community so patients can be discharged quickly from hospital and reduce the number of outpatient appointments by a third
• Digital access to health services, including online GP booking and remote monitoring of conditions such as high blood pressure
• Healthy living programmes for patients struggling with ill-health
• New testing centres for cancer patients to ensure earlier diagnosis
• DNA testing for children with cancer and those with rare genetic disorders to help select the best treatment

 

The NHS budget will grow by £20 billion a year by 2023, the equivalent to an annual rise of just under 3.5%.

 

This plan builds upon the Prime Minister’s six priorities for the NHS and these priorities are reflected in the announcement of the plan. These priorities include:

 

• A more integrated health system that views health holistically – organising care around the physical, mental and social needs of the patient.
• A health service that focuses much more on prevention and early diagnosis to address the needs of an ageing population.
• An emphasis on reducing variation between organisations across the NHS so that the world class care available to some reaches all parts of the country.
• A service where the workforce is better supported and recognised as the lifeblood of our NHS.
• To see the NHS make greater use of technology, not only to make healthcare safer and more effective – but to make the most of exciting new possibilities and give you greater control over your own care.
• The NHS go further than ever before to ensure mental health gets the proper attention it deserves, putting it on a par with physical health.

 

In addition to this announcement, I have also received a letter from the Secretary of State for Health providing some further details on the NHS Long Term Plan which I attach below for you to read.

 

I am working closely to support our hospital, mental health trust, GP surgeries and others in our NHS in Norwich, where we all as patients need to see improvements. So, I will be meeting with the Secretary of State for Health in the coming weeks to discuss the NHS Long-Term Plan and the important related issues which matter for us here in Norwich.

 

I will continue to keep you updated on further developments and work to bring even better health and social care services here for us in Norwich.