Prime minister Keir Starmer has pledged to perform “major surgery” on the NHS, promising a 10-year plan, underpinned by modern technologies, to solve the existing failings.
The prime minister promised a transition from” an analog to a modern NHS” and” sickness to prevention” and said the plan would be completely different from “everything that has come before.”
” Only important reform and a long-term strategy can transform the NHS and create a healthier society. It wo n’t be easy or quick. But I know we can do it”, Starmer said.
” The challenge is clear before us, and the change could represent the biggest reshaping of our NHS since its birth.”
The prime minister’s comments come after a quick review of the NHS by Lord Darzi, conducted over nine weeks, found an NHS in crisis, with a broken system and too much of the budget being spent in hospitals.
According to the Darzi review, the NHS “is in the foothills of modern transformation,” despite the fact that most of the economy has experienced significant economic transformation over the previous ten years.
The review concluded that the next ten years were a missed opportunity to advance the NHS and to embrace the technologies that would change the model from “diagnose and treat” to “predict and prevent.”
” There must be a big tilt towards technology to unlock productivity. The benefits of online systems are urgently needed by the hundreds of thousands of NHS staff who work outside hospitals, particularly. There is enormous potential in AI]artificial intelligence ] to transform care and for life sciences breakthroughs to create new treatments”.
calls for more attention to be put on community care
There have been numerous earlier attempts to move care away from the hospital and into the community, keeping patients at home more thanks to the use of technology in the wake of an ageing population and an increase in long-term conditions. But, success has been limited and irregular.
According to a recent report from the King’s Fund, online enabled community care is being hindered by a lack of funding and fragmented approaches to technology implementation.
To increase productivity, there must be a significant shift in favor of technology. The benefits of electronic systems are urgently needed by the hundreds of thousands of NHS staff who work outside hospitals, particularly.Darzi NHS review
Darzi noted in his review that while programs like online wards, which allow patients to be “admitted” while remaining in their personal homes, have the ability to lower hospital admissions and lengthen the stay of those admitted, the appropriate resources are frequently lacking.
” These include the appropriate professionals with the right skills– and the modern facilities, digital infrastructure, and diagnostics to support them”, the review said.
One of the biggest problems is that, despite the NHS’s numerous scientific advancements, none have “radically reshaped services.”
” The NHS, in common with most health systems, continues to struggle to fully realise the benefits of information technology. Instead of giving clinicians more time to care by simplifying the unavoidable operational tasks, it always seems to add to the workload, according to the review.
” The extraordinary richness of NHS datasets is largely untapped either in clinical care, service planning, or research”.
According to the review, the NHS has made significant investments in technology, including the Federated Data Platform, but that investment in IT typically focuses on serious hospitals more than other providers.
” Take community-based services such as district nursing or mental health home treatment. The NHS has a few “technology platforms” that have been around for more than 15 years, for as automatic route planning, according to the review.
” There are many possible technologies that would support more effective, higher quality, safer care in the community. But they are largely unavailable. There is a greater need for information systems that function in diverse settings because of the shift in the disease burden toward long-term conditions.
Darzi also said the NHS App, which has reached a record number of users, is not living up to its potential, and only 1 % of GP appointments, a key feature of the app, are managed through it.
” The Covid-19 pandemic led to a rapid increase in registrations for the NHS App, with nearly 80 % of adults now registered. But less than 20 % use it monthly. The NHS App is no delivering a’ digital-first’ experience similar to that found in many aspects of daily life, although there is great potential”, the review said.
The government has pledged to release its 10-year plan as soon as possible, which is expected to be released in the second half of 2025.
Wes Streeting, the health and social care secretary, who was given the Darzi review’s findings, said the findings would help guide the plan to “radically reform the NHS and get patients treated on time afterwards.”
” The harm the NHS has suffered has been done for more than a decade.” It is obvious that a longer road awaits us. But while the NHS is broken, it’s never beaten. We will turn the NHS around so that it can be used again when necessary,” he said.
