The development of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan is to come under scrutiny by an influential committee of MPs.
The cross-party Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) has launched an inquiry into the creation of the plan, with a focus on ensuring typically under-represented groups are included in its formation.
The 10-year plan is supported by the recent publication of Lord Ara Darzi’s review into the health service which exposed a lack of investment in community services and its nursing workforce.
Nurses, colleagues and members of the public have been urged to share their experiences of the NHS via an online survey, to help shape the government’s upcoming plan.
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Last week the health secretary established 11 working groups to support the development of the plan, with each group having two chairs from either the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and one external to these organisations.
But concerns have been raised that no one with a nursing background has been appointed.
Committee chair and Liberal Democrat MP Lalya Moran has written to the health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, seeking details on the ‘engagement element’ of the plan.
She asks how the government’s online platform for public engagement on the plan is being shared and promoted and how it will ensure it hears from a diverse range of voices, including people who are less likely to have engaged with the online survey.
And she asks how the views gathered during the government’s work will be used to inform the plan.
Discussing the committee’s inquiry, Ms Moran said: ‘We welcome the government’s recognition of the scale of the challenge facing the NHS and the need to engage widely to develop its plans for reform.
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‘It is essential that the government’s 10 Year Health Plan is based on robust evidence and informed by the experience of patients – including groups that are most affected by health inequalities and who are often overlooked by decision makers.’
The committee will next week take oral evidence from Lord Darzi, which will give MPs the opportunity to ask him how he thinks the government’s plan should address the issues raised in his report.
Full list of questions asked of the health secretary by the committee:
- How is the current survey on Change NHS online platform being shared and promoted, particularly to under-represented groups?
- Will there be other engagement to supplement the view gathered through the online platform? If yes a. What form will this take? b. What is the timeline for this activity? c. How will the department ensure it hears from a diverse range of voices, particularly from groups less likely to have engaged with the survey?
- Which groups and organisations has the government worked with and consulted with to develop its engagement strategy for the 10 Year Plan.
- How will the views gathered during these activities be used to inform the 10 Year Plan?
- Is the department planning to fully publish the results of this exercise and in what form will this take?
Speaking at the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) Conference in October England’s chief nursing officer (CNO), Duncan Burton, appealed to primary and community care nurses to help inform the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, by sharing examples of good practice and innovation.
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The HSCC is scheduled to hold a roundtable event with under-represented patient groups and a further oral evidence session, ahead of Mr Streeting appearing before the committee on 18 December.
Earlier this month, the committee launched a separate inquiry into the ‘cost of inaction’ on adult social care reform and wants to hear from nurses affected by insufficient changes to the sector.
