Today secretary of state for health, Wes Streeting and NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey launched the much-awaited 10 year plan for the National Health Service.
Health care bosses on Teesside have welcomed the announcement, saying that the three key priority areas align closely with plans for the region.
Speaking at a conference in London, Mr Streeting and Sir Mackey described their ambitions including bringing care closer to home. Streeting announced: “This government’s Plan for Change is creating an NHS truly fit for the future, keeping patients healthy and out of hospital, with care closer to home and in the home.”
Speaking about the transformational plans, Stacey Hunter, CEO for University Hospitals Tees, said: “We welcome today’s launch of the ten year plan, and in many respects it reflects what we deliver now with our own ‘hospital at home’ service and importantly, what we want to deliver in the future. We are exceptionally proud to work alongside excellent leaders across our local authorities, primary care, VCSE and education partners.
NHS 10 year plan
Stacey Hunter, chief executive: Delighted to be talking to you today from University Hospitals at Hartlepool. We just wanted to take a few minutes of your time to comment on the government’s 10-year plan for health that is being launched today.
It’s really welcome from our point of view as a provider of hospital and community services. The focus on neighborhood health is one that we absolutely endorse. Being able to get care to people in their own homes or outside of hospitals where that’s appropriate is absolutely at the heart of our strategy.
Derek Bell, chair: Many of the elements of that are absolutely aligned with our vision for improving patient care across Teesside and Tees Valley. Particularly today we’re at Hartlepool. We have elective surgical centres here in Hartlepool and also at the Friarage emphasising our commitment to care in the community.
Stacey: We are working really closely with our partners. our local authorities across Teesside, our volunteer sector groups, our mental health trust, and many others to work hard over this next five to ten years to make neighbourhood health a reality for everybody that relies on University Hospitals Tees.
“Our multi-disciplinary teams are already striving to come together to deliver the very best possible care for our patients. With a continued focus on delivering on our commitments, we know this will only work by strengthening these partnerships to tackle the broader determinants of health and wellbeing. The 10 year plan provides further impetus for us to do this with continued rigour.”
Health innovations
Teesside has long been cited as a place of health innovations in spite of a backdrop of some of the starkest deprivation and population outcomes in the UK. This year the Tees group opened the first community diagnostic centre in the region, working to provide thousands of diagnostic scans every year, reducing the need for patients to travel to a hospital setting. From virtual frailty wards to an urgent community response service, University Hospitals Tees has invested in ensuring patients are treated in the places and spaces that will ensure the best patient experience and optimum outcomes.
Professor Derek Bell, chair for the hospitals group, added: “The three significant shifts the government describes – hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention are a much welcomed focus for UHT.
“As we continue to transform our own services, patient involvement, inclusion and collaboration will be even more critical, and we absolutely call upon our own communities to support the NHS to reset for a sustainable future.”
You can view the government’s full ten-year plan here.