NHS 10 Year Health Plan

03 July 2025

Following the lengthy public consultation last year, we have finally received the 10 Year Health Plan for the NHS. 

In July 2024, we heard from the newly elected Labour Government that the NHS was “broken” and that there would not be any more “money without reform”. This started a year-long campaign to try and identify the issues with the NHS and to produce a plan to tackle the main issues and to get the NHS back on track. We had the report of Lord Darzi, who said that the NHS was in a critical condition but its “vital signs are strong”, meaning that we could look to fix what was wrong with the NHS.

This sparked the start of the nation’s biggest conversation about health with Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health, announcing a public consultation named Change.nhs.org. Throughout the consultation, significant emphasis was given to the three shifts for the NHS and the priorities of:

  • Treatment to Prevention
  • Hospital to Community
  • Analogue to Digital

The plan, published today, provides a vision for how the future of the NHS could be different by 2035 and sets out ambitious aims to achieve this.

The front page of the 10 Year Health Plan document

One announcement made by the plan is the creation of the Neighbourhood Health Services designed around patient need and not clinical care structures. These will restructure how we use hospitals and move some outpatient activity and other services into community based centres. These centres will also include relevant professionals such as GPs, health visitors, social care professionals and the voluntary sector. The promise is that these will be open 12 hours a day, 6 days a week at minimum to ensure that patients can receive care which doesn’t interfere with their working life.

We are pleased to read that people living with long-term conditions have been highlighted within these plans. There is a commitment to people living with long term conditions having access to a co-developed care plan and providing education to patients encouraging them to self-manage their conditions. The emphasis on providing education is centered around the NHS partnering with a ‘range of charities to deliver new, formal support that helps people with a new diagnosis manage their condition and live their lives’. NRAS is committed to working with Government and the NHS to determine whether the services we already provide would achieve this aim for people with RA. 

The final shift around digitialisation of the NHS and the importance of digital access is used throughout the 10 Year Health Plan. Digital first is an important player in every section. The main ambitions are around the use of a single patient record (this means that all of your health notes will be kept in one digital place) as well as the NHS App being the hub for access. The hope is to have a “doctor in your pocket” which will provide 24/7 advice and guidance and also allow you to access your health records. It will be important though to ensure that those who are not digitally enabled are still supported to access the same quality health care.

A common theme throughout the 10 Year Health Plan is the recognition of health inequalities. Inequalities can be for a variety of reasons and may relate to those who live in rural areas, are from a global majority background where English may not be their native language, from socially deprived areas or who are from a community who are at high risk of experiencing poorer health outcomes as well as worse access to healthcare. This is an important issue and we are happy to read the importance this has been given throughout the document.

At NRAS, we recognise that this plan represents a significant shift in how the NHS currently functions and that health professionals will be adjusting to the prospect of new models of delivering care and services over the next year. We see this as a very ambitious plan, and if successful, could completely revolutionise the NHS and the way we access the care we need. Many elements of the plan are directly relevant to those living with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis as well as those who may develop these conditions in the future. We will take the next few weeks to fully review the 10 Year Health Plan, speak with our health professional advisors and colleagues and identify specific provisions which are relevant to our audience and keep you in the loop as things develop. We will work with the NHS to highlight the needs of those living with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and to champion the progress that could be made to ensure everyone has access to high quality care.