Sir Keir Starmer is attempting to stablilise his rocky Labour administration by launching a new 10-year plan for the NHS.
In what has swiftly become the PM’s worst week in office so far – after he was forced to shelve key welfare reforms – Sir Keir will outline a major health shake-up.
The Government is promising to deliver ‘a brand-new era for the NHS’ and ‘one of the most seismic shifts in care in the history of the health service’.
The ’10 Year Health Plan’ includes plans for the creation of a ‘neighbourhood health service’ to ease the strain on hospitals.
New neighbourhood health services will be rolled out across the country to bring tests, post-op care, nursing and mental health teams closer to people’s homes.
The aim is to give people access to a full range of services, leaving hospitals to focus on the sickest, with neighbourhood health centres opening at evenings and weekends.
Labour is promising new health centres to house the neighbourhood teams, which will eventually be open 12 hours a day, six days a week within local communities.
But the plans appear to be less ambitious than pledges by previous governments to make the NHS a seven-day service, which were left unmet.
Sir Keir Starmer is attempting to stablilise his rocky Labour administration by launching a new 10-year plan for the NHS
The PM is seeking to shift focus away from several chaotic days in Westminster. This saw him U-turn on welfare cuts, as well as scenes of Rachel Reeves crying in the House of Commons
Jeremy Hunt, the former Tory health secretary, saw doctors begin the first all-out strike in NHS history in 2016 as he tried to introduce a seven-day health service.
Ex-Labour PM Gordon Brown also promised new health centres that would open seven days a week for 12 hours a day, but saw his plans resisted by unions.
Sir Keir will use a major speech on Thursday to unveil his vision for the NHS, as he seeks to shift focus away from several chaotic days in Westminster.
This saw him U-turn on welfare cuts amid the threat of a major revolt by Labour MPs, as well as scenes of Chancellor Rachel Reeves crying in the House of Commons.
Writing for broadcaster LBC ahead of the speech, the PM said the Government is now moving to its ‘next phase’.
‘A major programme of renewal and rebuilding that will transform the entire country,’ he added.
‘Once again making Britain a nation where you work hard and reap the rewards. A Britain you feel proud to live in once again.’
The new health plan sets out how the NHS will move from analogue to digital, treatment to prevention, and from hospital to more community care.
The ‘status quo of hospital by default will end’, according to the Government, with care shifted into neighbourhoods and people’s homes.
By 2035, the intention is that the majority of outpatient care will happen outside of hospitals, with less need for hospital-based appointments for things like eye care, cardiology, respiratory medicine and mental health.
New services will also include debt advice, employment support and stop smoking or obesity services – all of which affect people’s health.
Community outreach, with people going door to door, could also reduce pressure on GPs and A&E, the Government said.
Ahead of the speech, Sir Keir said it was time for the health service to ‘reform or die’.
‘Our 10-year health plan will fundamentally rewire and future-proof our NHS so that it puts care on people’s doorsteps, harnesses game-changing tech and prevents illness in the first place,’ he added.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the plan would deliver ‘one of the most fundamental changes in the way we receive our healthcare in history’.