One million visits to Change.NHS.UK

• Public health minister and NHS national director visited Wigston, Leicestershire as more than 100 people from across the Midlands took part in a debate on future of NHS
• The second national event will ensure views from the communities in the Midlands help to shape the government’s plans to build an NHS fit for the future
• Over one million visits to change.nhs.uk, after rallying cry was issued to ‘entire nation’ to help shape 10 Year Health Plan

The biggest ever conversation about the future of the NHS came to the Midlands yesterday (Saturday 23 November) as part of a nationwide series of public debates about how to fix the health service.

More than 100 people from the region visited Wigston in Leicestershire to discuss their views of the NHS, share their experiences, and offer their suggestions for delivering an NHS fit for the future.

Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne and NHS England’s National Director for Urgent and Emergency Care Sarah-Jane Marsh both attended. They asked people for their opinions on NHS reform and how the government’s 10 Year Health Plan can help tackle disparities in the region.

Addressing the event, Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention said: “I want to say a big thank you to so many people coming out so that you can be part of this 10 Year Health deliberation. 

“We can’t change the NHS and make it better without you. When we say that the NHS is broken but not beaten, it’s not beaten because the staff are incredible, it is because the NHS is not where we need it to be.

“The NHS makes me proud to be British, it’s still the incredible service that was set up after the Second World War. But the NHS of 1948 is not an NHS that is fit for the future, with people living longer now and with more complex conditions.

“This opportunity allows us to recreate an NHS that’s fit for the future. Central to this is our three shifts from: hospital to community; analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. 

“It’s exciting times and we’ve got a big task ahead. You are part of it and we can’t do it without your ideas. Let’s fix our NHS for the better.”

 Sarah-Jane Marsh, National Director of Urgent and Emergency Care and Deputy Chief Operating Officer for NHS England said: “As someone with over 20 years’ experience working in the NHS in the Midlands – including almost 14 years as CEO of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital – I know how vital it is to hear from patients and their families directly, so it is truly fantastic that more than a million people have already come forward to let us know about their experiences.

“The 10 Year Health Plan is our chance to help the NHS continue to innovate and adapt, and make best practice, normal practice across the country.

“That’s why we want even more people to come forward and share their views, so if you work for the NHS or are a patient, family member or simply someone with a good idea, please share with us what we do well, what we need to do better, and your ideas for the future – we are waiting to hear from you.”

The minister and national director also visited a mobile vaccination unit in Loughborough, met a super vaccinator, who offers a full range of childhood vaccines and seasonal and adult vaccines. They saw first-hand the impact that the mobile vaccination unit and super vaccinators are having on the community.

Last month, the government issued a rallying cry to the nation – including all 1.5 million NHS staff, patients, experts, and the wider public – to visit the online platform change.nhs.uk to share their experiences, views and ideas for fixing the NHS and to help shape the plan.

Change.nhs.uk has already received over one million visits. It will be live until spring 2025 and is available via the NHS App. 

Thousands of ideas to fix the health service have been submitted, with suggestions including:

• Establishing an NHS research health company that can be used to get insights on early prevention
• Digital records, so records from all hospitals are available to view at all GP surgeries 
• Pop-up / mobile clinics to meet surge demand for services in areas of need
• Stop giving out paper leaflets and sending letters, and limit this to those who do not have access to IT to reduce waste

All submitted ideas will be carefully considered as part of the engagement process so that we can better understand the priorities of the public, patients and people working in health and care.

It comes after the government announced a package of tough reforms to cut wasteful spending and ensure the health service delivers greater value for money – so more goes back to the frontline of care to benefit patients and staff everywhere.

People in the Midlands – an NHS region – are being affected by a range of health issues. The latest data shows there were:

• over 1.4 million patients on the waiting list in the Midlands, with nearly 50,000 waiting more than a year
• over 100,000 patients on the waiting list at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, with more than 2,000 waiting more than a year
• nearly 130,000 patients on the waiting list at Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board, with more than 2,500 waiting more than a year
• over 300,000 patients waiting for diagnostic tests and scans in the Midlands
• there are over 25,000 patients waiting for diagnostic tests and scans at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

At the end of September 2024, data shows there were:

• over 100,000 patients waited more than four weeks for a GP appointment in the Midlands
• nearly 15,000 patients waited more than four weeks for a GP appointment at NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB

The public engagement exercise will help shape the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, which will be published in spring 2025 and will be underlined by 3 big shifts in healthcare:

• hospital to community
• analogue to digital
• sickness to prevention 

As part of the first shift from ‘hospital to community’, the government wants to deliver plans for new neighbourhood health centres, which will be closer to homes and communities. Patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors or mental health specialists, all under the same roof. 

In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App.

By moving from sickness to prevention, the government wants to shorten the amount of time people spend in ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen.