Latest news with #NHSConfedExpo
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Family doctors could run hospitals under NHS shake-up
Family doctors could run NHS hospitals under plans being considered by Wes Streeting. The Health Secretary said he would overhaul the 'traditional expectations' about how services should be run in the 10-year health plan, which is due to be published within weeks. In a speech to NHS leaders in Manchester, Mr Streeting said he was open to wholesale changes in how local NHS services operate. He said this could mean family doctors leading local hospitals and NHS hospital trusts running more patient services such as GP practices if it would improve patient care. Multiple reports, including the gold-standard British Social Attitudes Survey, have found getting a GP appointment is the public's biggest issue with the NHS. 'The NHS should not be bound by traditional expectations of how services should be arranged,' he told delegates at the NHS ConfedExpo conference. 'I am open to our strongest acute trusts providing not just community services, as many already do, but also primary care, whatever services will enable them to meet the needs of their patients in a more integrated and efficient way.' Primary care includes services such as general practice, dentistry, eye appointments and pharmacies. The 10-year health plan will lay out how the NHS can reform to become a 'neighbourhood health service' with care delivered closer to home. Moving care from hospitals to the community is one of the Government's three big shifts for the NHS, along with moving from systems of analogue to digital and treatment to prevention. Mr Streeting said he hoped such terms as acute and community care 'become increasingly meaningless' and that there was also 'no reason why successful GPs should not be able to run local hospitals, or why nurses should not be leading neighbourhood health services'. The plan will give more power to NHS foundation trusts, which were created under the last Labour government and hailed by Mr Streeting as 'one of the most successful reforms in the last 25 years'. He said it would 'reinvigorate' and 'reinvent' the model, which could now include them running GP services, and will see them take on more responsibility for how to run healthcare in their local areas. It comes after the NHS was given a record £29 billion funding injection in Wednesday's spending review, with officials declaring the health service had been the 'winner', while other public services lost out. Mr Streeting said that it was right to think 'that's a hell of a lot of money' but that think tanks were also right in saying it 'is nowhere near enough'. 'The truth is both are right. It is objectively a substantial settlement that puts wind in our sails,' he said. 'The investment alone isn't enough.' Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: 'Redesigning services is essential to the future of the NHS and many providers are already breaking down their traditional silos to offer patients truly personalised and integrated care. 'The extra funding announced at the spending review is very welcome and as Mr Streeting says, it is both a lot of money and not enough,' he said. 'Our members will welcome Mr Streeting confirming he will support them to make the difficult decisions needed to redesign services. This is something we have been calling for and will be a weight off the minds of many system and provider leaders. 'We also welcome his announcement that the upcoming 10-year plan will put an end to central control and place more power into the hands of local leaders to lead and innovative to benefit their populations.' Earlier on Thursday, NHS figures revealed that the overall waiting list had fallen to 7.39 million – its lowest in two years. However, the number of people waiting longer than a year for a hospital appointment or procedure was up by about 10,000 to 190,000, having previously fallen for 10 months in a row. Waits of longer than 18 months also grew. Meghana Pandit, NHS England's co-national medical director, said NHS staff were working to 'turn the tide for patients waiting for care'. She said while huge pressure on services remains, 'we are starting to see a real difference across our services – this is just the start of the work we're doing to reform care and deliver improvements for patient'. The data also showed fewer people are getting a diagnosis of cancer or having it ruled out within four weeks. A total of 76.7 per cent of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days in April, down from 78.9 per cent in March and 80.2 per cent in February. The Government and NHS England had set a target of March 2026 for this figure to reach 80 per cent. The proportion of patients who had waited no longer than 62 days in April from an urgent suspected cancer referral, or consultant upgrade, to their first definitive treatment for cancer was 69.9 per cent, down from 71.4 per cent in March. GPs in England made 264,880 urgent cancer referrals in April, down from 272,165 in March but up year-on-year from 260,516 in April 2024. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Wes Streeting: £29bn NHS boost ‘substantial' but reform still needed
A £29bn investment into the National Health System (NHS) is 'substantial', but reform of the system is essential to 'fix the NHS', says UK Secretary of Health and Social Care Wes Streeting MP. Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester on 12 June, Streeting emphasised that while the investment is crucial, it is not sufficient on its own. Streeting said: '[£29bn] is objectively a substantial funding settlement that puts wind in our sails. The investment alone isn't enough. As I've consistently argued, you cannot fix the NHS problems by simply pouring more money into a broken system. It's only through the combination of investment and reform that we will succeed in getting the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future." As a result, the funding will be used alongside the NHS 10-year plan that will look at improving all areas of the NHS including community care, technology and staffing, adding that it is to prepare the NHS for the future instead of simply dealing with the current challenges. 'That is the job of the 10-year plan. It's not just to get the NHS back on its feet, but to prepare it for the world of genomics, artificial intelligence, predictive and preventative medicine,' Streeting said. Streeting outlined his hopes that the NHS could become a global leader and attract big pharmaceutical and technological companies to work more with the NHS. The desire to attract more technology companies is highlighted by the 50% technology spending uplift, equivalent to £10bn of the total funding. Streeting said that this funding is secured due to fiscal rules, meaning it will not be reallocated to other areas, ensuring that the NHS is advancing and able to modernise. He added that some of this funding will be used to increase the utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the NHS, including investment into software for patient note-taking to allow clinicians more face-to-face time with patients. Finally, Streeting highlighted the importance of international workers in the NHS, and how without their contributions the NHS would 'collapse'. 'With the NHS, as with so many other walks of life, our country has been shaped by migration. It has been a positive thing for our country… The NHS will always be an international workforce, and I think it makes us stronger for that global experience, perspective and talent,' Streeting said. He countered, however, that there has been an 'over-reliance on overseas recruitment', stating that some of the staff that are employed in the NHS have been taken from World Health Organization (WHO) red list countries, which he said to be 'unethical' and 'immoral'. "Wes Streeting: £29bn NHS boost 'substantial' but reform still needed" was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
North Wales Chronicle
16 hours ago
- Health
- North Wales Chronicle
Weight loss jabs could be transformative, says outgoing NHS England official
Cholesterol-busting statins are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the UK, with around seven to eight million people taking them to cut their chance of heart attack and stroke. An estimated 1.5 million are taking weight loss jabs in the UK. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the outgoing medical director of NHS England, said the NHS needs to go 'further and faster' to 'turn the tide' on rising levels of obesity. Later this month GPs in England will be allowed to prescribe mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, for the first time. Patients previously needed to access the drugs through a special weight loss service. Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester, Sir Stephen hailed the rollout in GP surgeries as an 'exciting milestone' and said NHS officials are also examining ways to 'broaden access to the drugs'. Around 29% of adults in the UK are obese. Sir Stephen said: 'Right now, obesity is estimated to cost the NHS approximately £11.4 billion every year – this financial burden is unsustainable for the NHS and wider economy. 'We have to turn the tide. We have to and will go further, and faster. 'In just a few years from now, some of today's weight loss drugs will be available at much lower cost. This could completely transform access to these innovative treatments. 'But we will and must be guided by the evidence base and must do this safely and sustainably, in a way that ensures that we are equipped as a health service to deal with the demand.' He said he is not 'starry-eyed' about weight loss drugs, adding they are 'no silver bullet'. He told reporters: 'These medicines can be harmful if they are prescribed without the right checks and wraparound care – they can have side effects, including nausea, dehydration and inflammation of the pancreas, and a worrying number of people are continuing to access them without appropriate checks via the internet. 'We are ambitious and determined to explore different methods of delivery and strengthen the evidence base and will do so alongside this phased rollout, but this is a historic first step in widening access, with 220,000 people set to benefit from the rollout over the first three years. 'So I think over time it's highly likely that they will become more widespread, the evidence base will increase, we will learn better how to deploy them, we'll learn how long people need to be on them, and in terms of weight reduction, how much weight reduction is maintained once people come off – that's a big unknown. 'We see this every time we have a new class of drugs in the early days. But there's still much more to learn. 'There will be more drugs coming on the market; there will be different prices for drugs, we will get to generics, which means that prices will fall. 'We have been through this with statins, and the use of statins is now very different from when they first came out, and I've no doubt that will be the same for these drugs. 'So it's very exciting, but we're in the foothills of learning how to use them.' Asked about statins, Sir Stephen said: 'So firstly, obesity is associated with a whole set of conditions (such as) kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions. 'So in reducing weight, you will, by the very nature of doing that, be reducing the risk of a whole set of difficult conditions and aiding with their management where people already have them. 'Whether the drugs have effects beyond that, I think, is a research question, and there will be an evidence base being generated. 'And it's not completely unusual for drugs over time to be found to have effects that go over and beyond what they were initially designed for. 'So I think we will wait and see. But obviously, the first task, amongst all the excitement and all the discussion and debate, is to actually get on and deploy tirzepatide in particular. 'We have been focused on getting this rolled out by the end of this month… and that is going to be a really exciting milestone. 'It's going to be a very exciting journey, and there will be things on the way that we haven't expected.' He added: 'We set out the our plan for uptake – Nice (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) have asked for a review of that after three years, which is quite right, because it's quite a long horizon. 'Cost is one element of that, but I think we will learn more about the outcomes that these drugs are driving in terms of lower cardiovascular events and reducing the conditions that we know associated with obesity. 'So absolutely, cost is one element of that, but it's not the only element. We want to look carefully at what the science tells us.' Sir Stephen added: 'When I look back when dialysis came in, we didn't use dialysis for older people. Over years the technology improved, we got more confident, more people were able to access the treatment. 'So we've much to learn with these drugs. It's a really exciting time.' He went on: 'We want to broaden the ways in which you can access these drugs – so we're very interested in thinking about pharmacies, thinking about digital. 'We will deliver the structured support through a combination of digital and face-to-face. 'But we want to innovate. This can be a model that is not just about GP prescribing, but we need to learn how to do that.'
The Independent
16 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Hospitals could run GP surgeries under NHS reforms
Hospitals could take over GP surgeries and family doctors could run hospitals under radical plans to reform the NHS in England. Wes Streeting said the forthcoming 10 year health plan would also see 'much of what's done in a hospital today, will be done on the high street'. But he stressed the Government was 'not embarking on another top-down reorganisation' of the health service. The plan is expected to be published in July. Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester, Mr Streeting said: 'The NHS should not be bound by traditional expectations of how services should be arranged. 'I am open to our strongest acute trusts providing not just community services, as many already do, but also primary care. 'Whatever services will enable them to meet the needs of their patients in a more integrated and efficient way. 'Indeed, I would hope that those old-fashioned labels – acute, community – become increasingly meaningless. 'Likewise, there is no reason why successful GPs should not be able to run local hospitals, or why nurses should not be leading neighbourhood health services.' Mr Streeting talked about the 'jeopardy' facing the NHS, adding: 'Just as public satisfaction has plunged to its lowest level on record, major political parties have begun to question the very existence of a publicly funded universal healthcare system free at the point of need. 'And I can almost feel them willing us on to fail, because if all of us fail in our mission to turn the NHS around, the vultures on the populist rivals swoop in for the kill. 'The NHS is in a fight for its life but nothing I have experienced in my first 11 months in office have shaken my conviction or confidence that this is a fight we will win.' Meanwhile he spoke about the spending review, likening himself to the survivor in the popular book series, The Hunger Games. 'Yesterday's spending review was a vital moment on that journey,' he said. 'There have been broadly two sorts of reactions to this. The first, mainly from the media and the public – '£29 billion is a hell of a lot of money'; the second, mainly from our think tank friends – '£29 billion is nowhere near enough'. The truth is, both are right. 'It is objectively a substantial funding settlement that puts wind in our sails. But investment alone isn't enough. 'There is no fix to the NHS's problems that simply pours more money into a broken system. 'It is only through the combination of investment and reform that we will succeed in getting the NHS back on its feet and making make it fit for the future.' He told delegates at the conference: 'Despite my best efforts at the Cabinet yesterday morning before the spending review announcement, to put the blame on John Healey the Defence Secretary for the squeeze on other government departments, none of my colleagues were buying. 'In fact, one permanent secretary once referred to me as the Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games. 'We're a Labour Government – the NHS is all of our priorities, and there isn't a single person sat with me around the Cabinet table who doesn't value what you're doing, doesn't underestimate the scale of the task that we have ahead of us, and they are all rooting for us to succeed, every single one of them.' Commenting on the speech, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: 'The Secretary of State is right that the divides between acute, primary, community are already being broken down, supported by the work of integrated care boards. 'Redesigning services is essential to the future of the NHS and many providers are already breaking down their traditional silos to offer patients truly personalised and integrated care.' He added: 'The extra funding announced at the spending review is very welcome and, as Mr Streeting says, it is both a lot of money and not enough. 'Many of our members have warned they will not hit the interim target, with only one in two confident they will achieve the 65% elective care interim target by March 2026. 'That is why redesigning services is so essential – the combination of investment and reform – so that we can achieve the Government's three ambitions.'
South Wales Guardian
16 hours ago
- Health
- South Wales Guardian
Weight loss jabs could be transformative, says outgoing NHS England official
Cholesterol-busting statins are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the UK, with around seven to eight million people taking them to cut their chance of heart attack and stroke. An estimated 1.5 million are taking weight loss jabs in the UK. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the outgoing medical director of NHS England, said the NHS needs to go 'further and faster' to 'turn the tide' on rising levels of obesity. Later this month GPs in England will be allowed to prescribe mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, for the first time. Patients previously needed to access the drugs through a special weight loss service. Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester, Sir Stephen hailed the rollout in GP surgeries as an 'exciting milestone' and said NHS officials are also examining ways to 'broaden access to the drugs'. Around 29% of adults in the UK are obese. Sir Stephen said: 'Right now, obesity is estimated to cost the NHS approximately £11.4 billion every year – this financial burden is unsustainable for the NHS and wider economy. 'We have to turn the tide. We have to and will go further, and faster. 'In just a few years from now, some of today's weight loss drugs will be available at much lower cost. This could completely transform access to these innovative treatments. 'But we will and must be guided by the evidence base and must do this safely and sustainably, in a way that ensures that we are equipped as a health service to deal with the demand.' He said he is not 'starry-eyed' about weight loss drugs, adding they are 'no silver bullet'. He told reporters: 'These medicines can be harmful if they are prescribed without the right checks and wraparound care – they can have side effects, including nausea, dehydration and inflammation of the pancreas, and a worrying number of people are continuing to access them without appropriate checks via the internet. 'We are ambitious and determined to explore different methods of delivery and strengthen the evidence base and will do so alongside this phased rollout, but this is a historic first step in widening access, with 220,000 people set to benefit from the rollout over the first three years. 'So I think over time it's highly likely that they will become more widespread, the evidence base will increase, we will learn better how to deploy them, we'll learn how long people need to be on them, and in terms of weight reduction, how much weight reduction is maintained once people come off – that's a big unknown. 'We see this every time we have a new class of drugs in the early days. But there's still much more to learn. 'There will be more drugs coming on the market; there will be different prices for drugs, we will get to generics, which means that prices will fall. 'We have been through this with statins, and the use of statins is now very different from when they first came out, and I've no doubt that will be the same for these drugs. 'So it's very exciting, but we're in the foothills of learning how to use them.' Asked about statins, Sir Stephen said: 'So firstly, obesity is associated with a whole set of conditions (such as) kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions. 'So in reducing weight, you will, by the very nature of doing that, be reducing the risk of a whole set of difficult conditions and aiding with their management where people already have them. 'Whether the drugs have effects beyond that, I think, is a research question, and there will be an evidence base being generated. 'And it's not completely unusual for drugs over time to be found to have effects that go over and beyond what they were initially designed for. 'So I think we will wait and see. But obviously, the first task, amongst all the excitement and all the discussion and debate, is to actually get on and deploy tirzepatide in particular. 'We have been focused on getting this rolled out by the end of this month… and that is going to be a really exciting milestone. 'It's going to be a very exciting journey, and there will be things on the way that we haven't expected.' He added: 'We set out the our plan for uptake – Nice (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) have asked for a review of that after three years, which is quite right, because it's quite a long horizon. 'Cost is one element of that, but I think we will learn more about the outcomes that these drugs are driving in terms of lower cardiovascular events and reducing the conditions that we know associated with obesity. 'So absolutely, cost is one element of that, but it's not the only element. We want to look carefully at what the science tells us.' Sir Stephen added: 'When I look back when dialysis came in, we didn't use dialysis for older people. Over years the technology improved, we got more confident, more people were able to access the treatment. 'So we've much to learn with these drugs. It's a really exciting time.' He went on: 'We want to broaden the ways in which you can access these drugs – so we're very interested in thinking about pharmacies, thinking about digital. 'We will deliver the structured support through a combination of digital and face-to-face. 'But we want to innovate. This can be a model that is not just about GP prescribing, but we need to learn how to do that.'
