Community Network: Community services must be at the heart of long term plan
18 July 2018
- Simon Stevens is interviewed by the Health Service Journal and sets out five key priorities for the NHS in the upcoming ten year NHS plan.
- In his interview, Stevens discussed efficiencies in community services and whether these should be combined with acute services.
- Stevens said Carter report showed that “there is both unmet need and a big efficiency opportunity in community services.”
Responding to comments made by NHS England’s chief executive Simon Stevens in which he highlighted the unmet need and big efficiency opportunities in community services, Matthew Winn, chair of the Community Network, which is operated jointly by the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, said:
“Community services must be at the heart of any long term plan for health and care.
We need to power up NHS community services to provide more of the care that people want – and we can rest assured this will take pressure off struggling hospitals too.
“Patients should be at the centre of what we do and that means a greater emphasis on community services which can look after people in and near their own homes. We need to join up our provision around this principle. The emphasis on community services must also be developed in collaboration and conjunction with primary and social care.
“To do this requires a fundamental shift in emphasis, incentives and funding. We need to power up NHS community services to provide more of the care that people want – and we can rest assured this will take pressure off struggling hospitals too.”