Responding to Therese Coffey's statement in the House of Commons on the government's plan for Health & Social care, Mark England, CEO of HN said:
“It’s positive to see prevention and primary care highlighted as key focus areas for the new Health and Social Care Secretary, but overall this NHS plan doesn’t go nearly far enough in resolving the deep-rooted issues facing the sector.
"The plans the new Secretary of State has put in place around GP appointments will have little impact on fixing the problems that general practice is facing. Instead, there is a need for a greater focus on proactive prevention, targeted by prediction. We need to move away from a reactive model and instead use real-time data to highlight those with rising risk, often with unmet health needs. The rapid rise in people living with multiple diseases poses a fundamental challenge to the NHS. These patients benefit from more proactive support, including health coaching – supporting them to self-manage their health conditions. Moving towards an anticipatory care model in primary care could make a profound difference.”