WMCA's response to the NHS 10 Year Plan

Keiron Broadbent • July 3, 2025

West Midlands Care Association response to the launch of the NHS 10 Year Plan

The government has today launched the NHS 10 Year Plan. This is expected to be a fundamental reset for NHS, putting people back where they belong at the heart of the care that they receive. We welcome this ambitious plan and its aims.

The West Midlands Care Association is pleased to have been part of the NHS Change engagement programme and to have had an input to the plan, but we’re disappointed there is no plan for social care either within or alongside the NHS 10 Year Plan.

One part of the plan is to improve people’s access to the NHS and to shift care out of hospitals and into the community through the Neighbourhood Health Service.

We welcome the move to a community-focused approach and look forward to working with our colleagues in the NHS to make it a reality. We believe that neighbourhood health services will only reach their full potential for frail elderly people and working age adults who use social care services if neighbourhood working includes social care as well as health. It is crucial that social care be regarded as a key part of Neighbourhood Teams delivery from the outset.

Another aim in the plan is the switch from analogue to digital. We welcome this aim, which will streamline communication and make it much simpler for us all to interact with NHS. However, technology and information sharing needs to embrace social care to make the most of the single patient record and technology-enabled care and improve outcomes for people.

As an integral part of the health and care system, it is essential that social care play its part in the changes envisaged in the NHS 10 Year Plan from the outset. We cannot wait until Baroness Casey completes her work and try to catch up.

For social care to play its part, funding must follow the work so that care providers can work with NHS colleagues to provide the care and support needed by each individual.

Fact Sheet:

What the 10 Year Health Plan means for you
Patients
Summary

Our health system is in crisis. If we don’t act now, we risk the NHS ceasing to exist as a publicly funded service, free at the point of use.
But if we seize the opportunities provided by new technology, medicines, and innovation, then we can deliver better care for all patients - no matter where they live or how much they earn - and better value for taxpayers.
Our 10-year plan, backed by £29b, will get the NHS back on its feet and to make it fit for the future.

From hospital to community
Easier to see your GP and end the 8am scramble for appointments, through more GPs, longer opening hours and a guaranteed online appointment in 24 hours.
A Neighbourhood Health Centre in every community, open six days a week, 12 hours a day and staffed by GPs, nurses, care workers, physios, mental health workers and employment advisors.
NHS dental appointments thanks to new dental contracts tying newly qualified dentists to the NHS.
Faster referrals to specialists, prescriptions from your pharmacist and 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres and dedicated mental health emergency departments.

From analogue to digital.
A digital single patient record will spare you repeating yourself and allow clinicians to design care around you.
AI-assisted doctors and self-referrals at your fingerprints through the NHS app, self-referral for talking therapies, and digitised therapies.
A digital red book will keep your children’s health information in one place.

From sickness to prevention.
A partnership with supermarkets to set new standards for healthy options - making the health choice the easy choice for families.
A ban on energy drinks and a smoke free generation.
Expansion of weight loss services and treatments to tackle obesity.
New screening programmes, including home kits to test for cervical cancer.
More financial support for those on low incomes to help give kids the healthiest start in life.
We will continue to roll out Mental Health Support Teams in schools.