07-07-2025
CIPFA Policy Manager on Health and Integration Dr Eleanor Roy responds to NHS England’s Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England
The 10-year health plan paints a bright picture of the health service for the future and presents lots of big ideas, some of which are new and some more familiar.
It sets out three shifts — from hospital to community, prevention to sickness and analogue to digital — alongside a push for greater local autonomy, financial sustainability, closer partnership working and a relentless focus on the patient. The innovations set out to achieve these ambitions are impressive and hit many of the right notes.
However, while the vision is admirable, delivering it is a different matter, and one which the plan often fails to address. Much of the detail in strategies and frameworks remains to be developed, and the plan lacks investment. While additional funding for the NHS has been delivered, it is already being eaten up by current demands, pressures and restructuring.
Almost every chapter contains details of how achieving the goals will contribute to financial sustainability, suggesting the hope that enough resources will be freed up to enable the required reforms. But this seems a huge gamble to take as it relies on the assumption that the ambitions will be achieved and will deliver the anticipated level of ‘savings’.
The commitment to reinventing the financial model for the NHS, with the ‘foundations’ to be set over the next three years is broadly welcome but will need deeper consideration. Again, this is an area where many details remain to be set out and will be crucial.
Notes to editor
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