With the 10-year Health Plan on the horizon, the NHS could learn some tricks from France, Germany and the Nordics.
At the HLTH Europe conference taking place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 16 to 19 June, NHS England chair Penny Dash highlighted that certain aspects of European health systems could translate well in the NHS.
“I think German payers have got absolutely amazing analytical capabilities and they can do things such as vary payment up and down, dependent on volumes of activity and demand,” said Dash.
“We could do things like that. I would also look at some bits of the French system in terms of digitalisation – there are some good examples there. I would focus on the work in all of the Nordic countries on primary care, as their models of primary care are population health-focused. The Nordic countries spend a significantly lower proportion of their health budget on hospitals than we do.”
Dash spotlighted some strengths of the NHS, including genomics, access to data and evidence base. However, she acknowledged that the health system needs to better utilise patient data to advance healthcare.
Dash’s remarks come amid UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s announcement to abolish NHS England, with the service set to return to government control. They also precede Streeting’s upcoming unveiling of the 10-year Health Plan for the NHS, which will emphasise a move from hospital to community, from analogue to digital systems, and from sickness to prevention.
Speaking on the plan, Dash added: “What we are planning to do and are already doing are very analogous to what other countries are doing. We have looked at the rest of the world and we've asked: ‘What are other people doing? What seems to be working? What seems to be having an impact?’ Then draw on that. The Secretary of State has been very clear since he was in opposition, talking about the three shifts.”
Earlier this month, an additional $29bn was granted to the NHS by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The following day at the NHS ConfedExpo, Streeting acknowledged this boost as "substantial" but said reform is still essential.
