The UK’s Labour Government has revealed its ’10-Year Health Plan’ for the country’s National Health Service (NHS).
Speaking at a community health centre in London, Health Secretary Wes Streeting outlined what the plan encompasses.
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This includes a shift from the NHS being a ‘sick service’ to one that is preventative – an approach Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer, who also appeared at the launch in Stratford, said will be achieved with a stronger focus on early diagnosis and screening with the use of technology such as AI.
The plan’s release follows Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ announcement last month that the NHS is set to receive a £29bn funding boost over the next three years.
With £10bn ($13.5bn) of the total NHS funding Reeves announced to be earmarked to bring the “analogue health system into the digital age”, another key shift outlined by Starmer lies in transforming the NHS from an analogue to a “truly digital” service.
A report co-authored by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Siemens Healthineers, and Imperial College London that was commissioned by the NHS as input to its ten-year plan, forecasts that technology-driven innovation, with a focus on earlier diagnosis, has the potential to impact population outcomes through risk stratification and intervention to “prevent disease and alleviate burden on the broader healthcare system”.
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By GlobalDataStarmer emphasised that the NHS must seize the “enormous opportunities” presented by developments in science and technology.
The UK Prime Minister said: “AI technology is an opportunity to make us more human,” clarifying that the introduction of more technology within the NHS would give NHS staff more time to “do the things that only human beings can do”.
Regarding technology, he added that there was “no reason” the future of the NHS could not be a more app-based service, with greater application of the service’s app planned for securing appointments and giving patients easier access to participation in clinical trials.
Plans would shift the NHS towards being more of a community service, with the introduction of new community health centres.
Calling such venues the “future of the health service”, Starmer said: “Hospitals will always be important, but disease has changed, and we must change with it. Not only can we do that, we can do it in a way that improves care and convenience for millions of people.”
According to the Prime Minister, this shift will help improve patient access to general practitioners (GPs), dentists and other services, including mental health support and smoking cessation clinics in “every community across the country”.
Adopting the right mindset to get the basics right
Clive Makombera, partner and head of NHS at RSM UK, an audit, tax, and consulting company, called the 10-Year Plan a “pivotal moment for the future of the NHS”.
He said: “By embedding digital innovation, shifting care closer to home, and focusing on prevention, the NHS is laying the foundation for a more sustainable, equitable, and patient-centred future.
“Whilst these are the right priorities, delivering them will come with their challenges, even with the new funding that was recently announced.”
Makombera cautioned that in achieving the government’s aims, it must “get the basics right” and rebalance resources and funding within the NHS to match its priorities.
He continued: “Shifting from reactive treatment to prevention will only be achievable by making better use of technology, delivering care closer to home and developing new models that centre around accountability. However, the NHS desperately needs more staff with the right skill set, which might require leveraging the expertise of the private healthcare sector. That said, existing workforce shortages in the healthcare system cannot be underestimated.”
British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) CEO David Stockdale said the BHTA welcomed the plan’s shift to community-centric care.
“But at its foundation must lie the manufacturers and suppliers of essential medical equipment who enable independent living and timely hospital discharges,” Stockdale said.
“Without them, this vision simply won’t take hold.”
BMA council chair Dr Tom Dolphin highlighted that the plan must show that the Government “truly values” clinical leaders in the NHS.
Dolphin said: “The success of the plan, and whether it will improve patients’ care and the public’s lives, will hinge on whether it genuinely addresses the workforce shortages, and values and empowers professionals on the front line, or just rearranges deck chairs on a sinking ship.
“If this plan is to be as ambitious and transformative as the government would have us believe, it needs the backing of staff and any changes must be implemented in genuine partnership with workers on the frontline.”
Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) CEO Richard Torbett called the plans to boost the NHS’s offer on genomic medicine and accelerate clinical trials “exactly right and very welcome”.
“This will transform patients’ lives and take better advantage of the precision medicines and benefits of research that our sector can offer,” Torbett said.
“However, the successful implementation of the NHS 10-Year Plan will require a fundamental shift in how the UK approaches innovative medicines and vaccines. For too long, the UK has viewed innovation as a cost to be avoided, rather than an investment that can improve health outcomes and system productivity.
“The UK must reverse decades of disinvestment in innovative medicines that is increasingly preventing NHS patients from accessing medicines that are available in other countries.”
Meeting digital aims for the NHS
Gerard Hanratty, head of health and life sciences at law company Browne Jacobson, held the banking industry up as one the NHS should take cues from.
He said: “Healthcare can learn much from the banking industry’s digital transformation journey, which has been underpinned by consumer acceptance – and enthusiasm – for sharing sensitive data that provides real-time metrics and intelligent insights to manage finances effortlessly.
“Replicating this model to create ‘digital health wallets’ – secure, user-controlled platforms for storing, managing and sharing health information – could revolutionise patient self-management and open the door to incentivisation initiatives that are fundamental to the move from sickness care to prevention.”
Amadeus Capital Partners’ Pierre Socha called the NHS’ plans to expand access to clinical trials through the NHS app a “welcome step toward a more predictive, personalised healthcare system”.
He commented: “We’ve long believed that AI-driven diagnostics are foundational to the future of medicine. By embedding these technologies into national infrastructure, the UK is not only improving patient outcomes but also reinforcing its position as a global leader in life sciences innovation.
“The integration of genomic data into routine care, combined with streamlined access to clinical trials via the NHS App, has the potential to accelerate drug development, reduce health inequalities, and unlock new models of preventative care.”
