RCR responds to the government’s 10-year health plan consultation
Shortly after entering government, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care launched a wide-ranging consultation of the public, healthcare professionals, and healthcare organisations, which aimed at gathering views and ideas for how the NHS should adapt to tackle the demand it now faces and meet the challenges of the future.
Labour already know that they want to make three shifts in terms of how the NHS delivers care: moving it from hospitals and into communities; moving from analogue to digital systems; and preventing and treating illnesses early, rather than when they become acute.
It has been known for a long time that these shifts are needed. But there is a long way to go before we see any changes on the ground as a result of new government policy.
But these shifts would have far-reaching implications for radiologists and oncologists, your practice and your daily lives. It was important that the RCR responded by tabling ideas for how the three shifts can be achieved in such a way that would represent a genuine improvement to diagnostics, cancer care, and clinicians’ working lives.
What you told us
We sent out an Insight Panel survey to our UK members, asking them how they thought the three shifts could be achieved. Not only did this help us to understand your views on the topic; it also allowed us to share them directly with the government via our response to the consultation.
You told us that the success of the 10-year health plan will require more workforce, better staff retention, and modern IT systems, alongside investment in equipment, cross-system integration, and public education.
However, the headline figure from the survey was that 75% of respondents said they were not so confident or not at all confident that the 10-year health plan would, if implemented, be effective in reducing NHS waiting lists. This underscores the fact that addressing staff morale will be as important a driver of improving NHS performance as any other.
We highlighted these priorities throughout our response to the consultation, focusing on how workforce expansion, retention, interconnectivity and IT systems and capital investment will be essential.