South East of England has its say on the future of the NHS

• More than 100 people across the South East of England have joined the biggest ever national conversation to get the NHS back on its feet
• Health Minister, Baroness Merron, alongside NHS England Chief Strategy Officer, Chis Hopson spoke with locals on ideas to reshape the NHS as part of government's 10 Year Health Plan
• The event comes as data shows over a million people in the area are on NHS waiting lists

The South East of England has become the latest region to host the biggest ever conversation about the future of the NHS, as part of a nationwide series of public events looking at how to fix the health service.

More than 100 people from the local area came to Folkestone today (Sunday 1 December) to share their views on the NHS in the region, where waiting lists surpass a million, and 40,000 people have been waiting more than a year.

Attendees heard from Health Minister, Baroness Gillian Merron, and NHS England's Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Hopson, who outlined their commitment to transforming the NHS.

They also spoke directly to locals from the region on their opinions on how best to reform the NHS and how the government's 10 Year Health Plan can help tackle disparities in the wider region and get the NHS back on its feet.

Opening the event, Health Minister, Baroness Gillian Merron said:

The National Health Service needs to be thriving and meeting the demands for many years ahead. That is why we're doing what is actually the biggest consultation in the whole of the National Health Service's life.

We want to hear from patients, that's all of us, we also want to hear from staff, we want to hear from charities, we want to hear from families, we want to hear from all of the experts who are involved.

There are three main pillars that we're going to be guiding all this around, moving from analogue to digital, from sickness to prevention and from hospital to community. It is only by doing that that we will be able to provide, and provide into the future.

NHS England chief strategy officer, Chris Hopson, said:

If we're to modernise the NHS it's absolutely vital that we take on board the thoughts and ideas of everyone who uses it and works in it on a daily basis.

Today's 10 Year Health Plan event has been a fantastic opportunity for us to hear from those people who have experienced both the good and bad of the NHS - whether as patients or staff members.

I've been so impressed by their ideas for innovation and their passion to help us succeed, and I'm more confident than ever that with the public's support we can truly build a health service that's fit for the future.

The Minister and Chief Strategy Officer also visited a patient, who benefits from the Frailty Home Treatment Service, and saw first-hand how the service provides at-home, individualised treatment and care to frail patients in crisis in East Kent - as part of the government's focus on shifting healthcare from hospitals to communities.

Last month, the government issued a rallying cry to the nation - including all 1.5 million NHS staff, patients, experts, and the wider public - to visit the online platform change.nhs.uk to share their experiences, views and ideas for fixing the NHS and to help shape the plan.

Change.nhs.uk has already received almost 1.1 million separate visits, with almost 9,000 ideas now live on the site. It will be live until spring 2025 and is available via the NHS App.

Thousands of ideas to fix the health service have been submitted, with suggestions including:

• establishing an NHS research health company that can be used to get insights on early prevention
• digital records, so records from all hospitals are available to view at all GP surgeries
• pop-up / mobile clinics to meet surge demand for services in areas of need
• stop giving out paper leaflets and sending letters, and limit this to those who do not have access to IT to reduce waste

All submitted ideas will be carefully considered as part of the engagement process so that we can better understand the priorities of the public, patients and people working in health and care.

People in the South East of England are being affected by a range of health issues. The latest data shows there was:

• a waiting list of more than 1.1 million in the South East of England region, with over 40,000 of those waits being more than a year.
• a waiting list of more than 243,000 at the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, with over 8,000 of those being more than a year.
• a waiting list of more than 86,000 at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, with over 3,000 of those being more than a year.

At the end of September 2024, data shows:

• over 85,000 GP appointment took place more than four weeks after booking in the South East of England
• over 16,000 GP appointments took place more than four weeks after booking at the in Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board

The public engagement exercise will help shape the government's 10 Year Health Plan, which will be published in spring 2025 and will be underlined by three big shifts in healthcare:

• hospital to community
• analogue to digital
• sickness to prevention

As part of the first shift from 'hospital to community', the government wants to deliver plans for new neighbourhood health centres, which will be closer to homes and communities. Patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors or mental health specialists, all under the same roof.

In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App.

By moving from sickness to prevention, the government wants to shorten the amount of time people spend in ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.