Healthcare delivery
Priorities for the NHS in the year ahead
NHS England has published the key priorities for the NHS, during the year ahead, as part of new planning guidance. NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard describes the forecast for 2024/25 as ‘challenging’ but is optimistic that real improvement is possible – even in the toughest of circumstances.
NHS England has published its ‘Priorities and operational planning guidance’ for 2024/25. Unsurprisingly, the overall priority remains the recovery of core services and productivity following the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as improving patient outcomes and experience. The focus will also be on interventions that improve patient flow. Amanda Pritchard, NHS Chief Executive, commented that the outlook is “challenging”, but added that she was “optimistic” that the increased investment promised by the Government will help the NHS achieve its core priorities, set out for 2024/2025. “In the recent Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced £2.45 billion of extra funding for the next year, which covers the recurrent cost of the pay deal and gives the NHS flat real funding for 2024/25. This will help us continue to make important progress on the things that matter
most for patients: improving waiting times and safety in urgent and emergency care, further reducing the longest waits for tests and treatment for cancer and elective care, making it easier for people to access primary care, and much more besides – benefiting the health and lives of millions of people. “Many of the ambitions for 2024/25 reflect
the reality of the multi-year process of recovering from the impact of the pandemic and improving services for patients. We know that given the current context, many of them will be stretching. We also know that achieving them will need a relentless focus on improvement, fewer delays and unnecessary processes so that we can provide better care for patients, and greater value for taxpayers. “We go into this year with more capacity in hospitals, community services, primary care,
ambulance and mental health services, better data flows and new safety reporting systems. It is imperative that we focus on consolidating these assets to make progress on our shared desire to deliver more for patients with the resources we have.” Amanda Pritchard added that an investment
of £3.4 billon in data and technology – from 2025/26 onwards – will allow the roll-out of technology and digital services to improve access, waiting times and outcomes. “Coming less than a year on from the NHS
Long-Term Workforce Plan, this investment has the promise to be transformational, for both patients and for our staff,” she asserted. To deliver on the priorities for 2024/25, the guidance states that the NHS must: l Maintain its collective focus on the overall quality and safety of services, particularly maternity and neonatal services.
l Reduce inequalities in line with the Core20PLUS5 approach.1
l Improve ambulance response and A&E waiting times by supporting admissions avoidance and hospital discharge, and maintaining the increased acute bed and ambulance service capacity that systems and individual providers committed to put in place for the final quarter of 2023/24.
l Reduce elective long waits and improve performance against the core cancer and diagnostic standards.
l Make it easier for people to access community and primary care services, particularly general practice and dentistry.
l Improve access to mental health services so that more people of all ages receive the treatment they need.
l Improve staff experience, retention and attendance.
Supporting the workforce The guidance states that the immediate priority remains improving staff experience, retention and attendance, drawing on best
May 2024 I
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com 19
t
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
