The NHS has been marking its 70th anniversary, and the national debate this has unleashed has centred on three big truths. There’s been pride in our Health Service’s enduring success, and in the shared social commitment it represents. There’s been concern – about funding, staffing, increasing inequalities and pressures from a growing and ageing population. But there’s also been optimism – about the possibilities for continuing medical advance and better outcomes of care. In looking ahead to the Health Service’s 80th birthday, this NHS Long Term Plan takes all three of these realities as its starting point. So to succeed, we must keep all that’s good about our health service and its place in our national life. But we must tackle head-on the pressures our staff face, while making our extra funding go as far as possible. And as we do so, we must accelerate the redesign of patient care to future-proof the NHS for the decade ahead.

This plan sets out how we will do that.

Overview:

• Chapter One sets out how the NHS will move to a new service model in which patients get more options, better support, and properly joined-up care at the right time in the optimal care setting.
• Chapter Two sets out new, funded, action the NHS will take to strengthen its contribution to prevention and health inequalities.
• Chapter Three sets the NHS’s priorities for care quality and outcomes improvement for the decade ahead.
• Chapter Four sets out how current workforce pressures will be tackled, and staff supported.
• Chapter Five sets out a wide-ranging and funded programme to upgrade technology and digitally enabled care across the NHS.
• Chapter Six sets out how the 3.4% five year NHS funding settlement will help put the NHS back onto a sustainable financial path.
• Chapter Seven explains next steps in implementing the Long Term Plan.