Biggest ever conversation about the NHS comes to East of England

The East of England has become the latest region to host the biggest ever national conversation about how to fix the health service and get the NHS back on its feet. 

More than 100 people from the area came to Ipswich today (Saturday 30 November) to share their views on the NHS in the region, where waiting lists surpass 900,000 and tens of thousands of patients are left waiting more than four weeks for a GP appointment. 

Alongside the Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock and NHS England National Medical Director Stephen Powis, residents discussed their experiences of accessing healthcare and put forward their suggestions for delivering an NHS fit for the future.   

They spoke about how the 10 Year Health Plan will shift more care into the community, reducing pressure on hospitals and improving access for patients. 

Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock said:

I was delighted to join over 100 residents in Ipswich, all of whom are passionate about getting our NHS back on its feet.

I also got to see first-hand the innovative Be Well Bus, which is exactly the kind of community healthcare initiative we need - bringing vital services like health checks and vaccinations directly to people's doors.

We can only build an NHS fit for the future by working hand in hand with local communities. It's crucial that we hear directly from people all over the country about their experiences and ideas for improvement, and the insights shared today will help shape a healthcare system that works for everyone. I encourage everyone to visit change.nhs.uk and share their ideas to help.

The minister and Stephen Powis also visited a local Be Well Bus, an innovative mobile unit offering health checks and vaccinations, and saw how it was bringing healthcare directly to people's doors. 

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said:

If we're to deliver on our goal of making best practice, normal practice across all NHS organisations, it is essential that we hear from patients and their families directly.

The 10 Year Health Plan is a great opportunity for the public to have their say on the future of the NHS, and we're delighted that so many people came down to share their ideas on how best we innovate and adapt for tomorrow.  

I've spoken to patients, family members and NHS staff with a whole host of experiences, both good and bad. But everyone is united in the common goal of wanting to build a stronger NHS that is fit for the future.

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 almost 1.1 million separate visits, with almost 9,000 ideas now live on the site. 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. 

People in the East of England are being affected by a range of health issues. The latest data shows there was: 

• a waiting list of more than 920,000 in the East of England region, with almost 40,000 of those waits being more than a year 
• a waiting list of more than 91,000 at the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, with over 3,000 of those being more than a year 
• a waiting list of more than 130,000 at the North Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, with over 5,000 of those being more than a year 

At the end of September 2024, data shows that: 

• almost 75,000 patients waited more than four weeks for a GP appointment in the East of England region 
• nearly 9,000 patients waited more than four weeks for a GP appointment at the North Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board 

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. 

Comments about the event from those who attended included:

I think everyone's been really open minded, and I think there's not a single person at that table back there who hasn't taken something that someone else has said, and we've then formed a better idea.

Discussing such a big topic like this, I think it's really important. We've got a real mix of people, different ages, different experiences, and they've obviously all had their own personal problems with the NHS, so it's interesting. I've recently given birth, so I've had a different experience from the man that I'm sitting beside, who's in his late 70s, and he's been using the NHS for different reasons.

One of the shifts is moving more healthcare from hospitals to communities, and talking about more localised care, bringing it home rather than big hospitals. It's been really interesting talking about it because it's new to me, I haven't heard this before. It seems good. I've been able to contribute my sort of views towards it, but also listen to what other people may think about it.