Government publishes 10-year health plan for England

The plan outlines details on the proposed three shifts to transform the NHS, moving it from hospital to community, analogue to digital and sickness to prevention.

The changes will be implemented through an additional £29 billion over the next ten years.

A key part of the plan is the set-up of Neighbourhood Health Services. These centres will see teams of GPs, social care workers, nurses and other healthcare workers in one building in local communities.

We welcome that these neighbourhood centres will include rehabilitation services. However, it remains to be seen what this will look like and how it they will join up with existing services, including those provided by local Headway charities.

It is vital that there is recognition that specialist conditions – such as brain injury – require specialist support. Generic rehabilitation that is not condition-specific cannot seek to replicate the brain injury rehabilitation provided by local Headway charities or return the same benefits to individuals or the public purse.

Our response to the plan’s initial consultation included our proposals to invest in reablement for brain injury survivors and called on the government to end the postcode lottery of neurorehabilitation services.

There is no mention of brain injury included in the plan. However, the document will form the backdrop for any acquired brain injury strategy or similar that emerges from the government in the coming months.

Crucially, the plan comes ahead of a 10-Year Workforce Plan for the NHS due later this year. The first stage of a review into of adult social care will be published in 2026.

Chief Executive of Headway, Luke Griggs, said: “The long-awaited publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, including its focus on community care, is welcome. But it remains to be seen how these new neighbourhood services will link up with and support existing community-based rehabilitation provided by local Headway charities.

“While the plan promises short-term action in some areas, others require details from the upcoming workforce and social care plans for action to take place.

“If the NHS is to move towards delivering more care within communities, it is essential that this government makes social care reform a top priority.

“Without radical reform of the social care system, it is hard to see how the NHS can achieve the sensible objectives outlined in this plan.

“Meanwhile, the longer brain injury charities wait for meaningful change and sustainable funding solutions, the greater the pressure becomes on local charities to survive.”