Realising the neighbourhood NHS: A new deal for primary care in England
Article
A strong primary care sector – including teams of nurses, pharmacists, mental health specialists and allied professionals – has been shown to deliver better health outcomes, a decrease in utilisation of hospitals and emergency departments as well as slower growth in health care spending.
But, in England, general practice also needs fundamental change. There is significant variation in quality, access in primary care is poor, demographics are changing, and GP workloads are increasing.
There is a growing consensus that a shift towards primary care at scale - what we call the ‘neighbourhood NHS’ - is the solution to these problems. Recent government reform initiatives have made some progress in delivering on this vision, but the evidence suggests there is much further to go.
We need a ‘new deal’ for general practice to overcome these challenges. We argue this should be made up of four main components across England.
- Create neighbourhood care providers (NCPs) to deliver the ‘neighbourhood NHS’.
- Offer all GPs the right to NHS employment.
- Reform new GP roles to create career progression, time to care and realistic workload.
- A radical transformation of the primary care infrastructure.
Related items
Realism and progress: How should the UK think about international policy in 2024?
Given the current polls, the Labour party looks set to form the next government. It has taken the temperature of the country and, whereas in 1997 its leaders put hope at the heart of their campaign, this time they have chosen to focus on…Rock bottom: Low investment in the UK economy
The UK’s investment performance is still worse than every other G7 country, new data shows.There is an alternative to traditional ways of delivering social and economic value
Our new report An alternative is possible: Measuring the impact of cooperatives puts forward a new framework for measuring the value that cooperative organisations deliver to local economies.