UK Government Publishes 10-Year Health Plan for England 

Context: A defining moment for the NHS 

Since its inception, England’s public healthcare system (NHS) has been the lodestar of British political identity—a totem of national pride. Given the unique place it holds within the British psyche and the position it held as the number one priority for voters in the run-up to last year’s election, Prime Minister Kier Starmer made building an NHS fit for the future one of his five missions for government. Having then opted to provide the NHS with a significant uplift in its budget at the recent Spending Review, Starmer has consciously made the success or failure of the 10-Year Health Plan for England a key defining feature of his premiership.

The challenges are immense. Ballooning waiting lists, chronic workforce shortages, and creaking infrastructure are just the symptoms. Beneath them lies a system that is outdated in parts and inflexible in others, and growing uncertainty about whether increased funding can ever match the scale of expectation people have for the NHS. Starmer’s NHS reform agenda—rooted in digitization, preventative care, and capital investment—is in his own words both “radical and urgent.”

Prime Minister Starmer is clear in his view that this plan will take the NHS “from the worst crisis in its history, and renew it so it serves generations to come.” The real test, however, lies not in the prescription but in the delivery. 

Breaking down the plan

The choice for the NHS is stark. Continue with making tweaks to an “increasingly unsustainable model” or “take a new course and reinvent the NHS through transformational change.” The government is clear that this plan chooses the latter.

Over the course of 168 pages, the plan outlines how the government intends to “reinvent our healthcare model,” away from today’s hospital-centric system to one where patients are empowered to control their care. Seeking to ensure that the NHS is at the forefront of the scientific and technological revolution is pivotal to this reinvention.

The plan sets out how the government will reinvent the NHS through three radical shifts. The shift from hospital to community, the shift from analogue to digital, and the shift from sickness to prevention. The common thread running through each of these shifts is a clear desire by the government to “put power in patients’ hands.”

Three Radical Shifts

From hospital to community—the neighborhood health service:

• Thousands more general practitioners (GPs) will be trained in an effort to end the so-called 8am scramble for an appointment. Two new contracts will be introduced from next year to encourage and allow GPs to work over larger geographies and lead new neighborhood providers.
• People will be supported to be active participants in their own care by ensuring that people with complex needs have an agreed plan by 2027. There is an effort to ensure that a Personal Health Budget becomes a universal offer for all who could benefit by 2035.
• Through the NHS App, patients will be able to book appointments, communicate with professionals, receive advice, draft or view their care plan, and self-refer to local tests and services.
• Neighborhood health centers will be established in every community—a one stop shop for patient care and a place from which multidisciplinary teams operate. The role community pharmacies play in the management of long-term conditions will also be increased.
• Access to NHS dentistry will be improved by increasing the number of dentists in the system through a reformed and more attractive contract.
• The NHS constitutional standard of 92% of patients beginning elective treatment within 18 weeks will be restored.
• Up to GBP 120 million will be invested to develop more dedicated mental health emergency departments.
• All hospitals will be fully AI-enabled within the lifetime of the plan.

From analogue to digital:

• Through My NHS GP App, patients will have access to instant advice for non-urgent care, use My Choices to select preferred providers, manage prescriptions via My Medicines, and book vaccinations through My Vaccines.
• People will be able to manage long-term conditions via My Care, track and upload health data through My Health, and access additional support with My Companion. They will be able to oversee their children’s care using My Children, coordinate care for loved ones through My Carer, and provide feedback on services received—all in one integrated system.
• Introduce single sign-on for staff and scale the use of technology such as AI scribes to liberate staff from their current burden of bureaucracy and administration.

From sickness to prevention:

• Deliver on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to ensure that children turning 16 this year can never legally be sold tobacco. Halt the advertising and sponsorship of vapes and other nicotine products.
• A moonshot will be launched to end the obesity epidemic. This includes restricting junk food advertising targeted at children, banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under 16-year-olds, and reforming the soft drinks industry levy—none of which are new announcements.
• Mandatory heath foods sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector will also be introduced. Using that reporting, the government will set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities and work with the Food Strategy Advisory Board on how to sequence the introduction of this policy. Targets will be mandatory but companies will have the freedom to work out how to achieve the target, whether through reformulation, changing their layout, introducing new healthy products, or adjusting customer incentive and loyalty schemes.
• Access to weight loss medication will be expanded through the NHS on a “pay-for-impact” basis.
• Harmful alcohol consumption will be targeted through the introduction of new standards for alcohol labeling. The no and low alcohol market will also be supported.
• Increase uptake of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations among young people who have left school, to support the aim to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. Lung cancer screening will also be fully rolled out for those with a history of smoking.
• A new genomics population health service, accessible to all, will be established by the end of the decade. A newborn genomic testing and population-based polygenic risk scoring will also be implemented. 

Analysis: Delivery must be felt on doorsteps 

The government came to power nearly a year ago with a clear mandate: to revive the NHS and create a healthcare system fit for the future. Public frustration with the NHS stemmed from widespread and persistent failings across the system. Patients were facing unacceptably long waits for GP appointments, hospital treatments, and ambulance services. Cancer care in the UK continued to lag behind international standards, outcomes for cardiovascular conditions were deteriorating, and staff morale had reached an all-time low. The Health Secretary used his first statement in office to boldly declare that “the NHS is broken,” setting the stage for public expectations about how this new government would define what is broken—and how it intends to fix it.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how the government intends to deliver transformational change across the NHS—something successive administrations have struggled to achieve. Yet despite holding a commanding majority, the stakes have never been higher. The government’s ability to retain public support—and ultimately win re-election—partly depends on making visible, meaningful progress on improving the NHS.

That progress will be measured not in headlines, but on doorsteps—by whether people genuinely feel the difference in their day-to-day care. It means ending the postcode lottery, being able to see a GP when needed, getting hospital appointments sooner, and—crucially—moving beyond media soundbites about falling waiting lists for the first time in 17 years to ensuring patients receive proper follow-up care when they need it. It also demands better care in the community—not just shorter waits, but lasting, meaningful improvements that patients can rely on.

New governments typically have time to deliver on their priorities—but this one faces mounting pressure after a tumultuous 12 months in government, despite the next election not set to happen until 2029. Political scientist Sir John Curtice has pointed to an “unprecedented” decline in popularity, underscored by last week’s publication of YouGov’s first Multilevel Regression and Post-stratification poll since the last election. While not a forecast, the model—based on thousands of respondents and demographic data—suggests the Reform Party could win the most seats if an election were held this year. Support for both Labour and the Conservatives has dropped to less than half of the national vote.

Labour doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for voters to feel the benefits of “transformational change” by the next election. Improvements need to be tangible and felt much sooner. While four years is a long time in politics, this is one of the many issues which could prove make or break for the government—depending on whether it can implement and deliver on today’s ambitions. Not least because this is the number one flagship policy that, if done right, could draw a clear and favorable dividing line with Reform for voters.

Reform’s political momentum is not without vulnerabilities and central among them is the NHS. While the party insists it will keep healthcare free at the point of use, Nigel Farage has repeatedly questioned the sustainability of the current funding model. In the past he has suggested exploring alternatives, including insurance-based systems, and has expressed skepticism about the efficacy of increased investment in the NHS.

These remarks provide Labour with a potent line of attack. Farage’s stance could alienate voters who view the service as a cornerstone of British society. As Reform seeks to capitalize on public discontent, its ambiguous stance on the NHS may become a liability, challenging its appeal to a broader electorate.

If the plan lands—if waiting times fall, morale rises, and the digitization of the NHS succeeds—it may cement the image Starmer wants to create of himself. That is someone who wants to reposition himself as the reformer-in-chief, the steady hand at the tiller, and the heir to Blair—all of which feels somewhat like wishful thinking after yet another political misstep and U-turn this week. Failure on an issue where Labour has traditionally held an advantage—and one that remains a top priority for voters—could prove politically fatal.  

Materials presented by Edelman’s Public & Government Affairs experts. For additional information, reach out to Siobhan.Hill@Edelman.com