Last updated on August 29th, 2017 at 10:52 am

The Five Year Forward View maps out a clear plan for the NHS – it shows why change is needed and what that change will look like. The basis of NHS care will stay as primary care.

Proactive on prevention

The first point set out in the Five Year Forward View is that there is a there needs to be improvement in healthier lifestyles so that people don’t get ill so much. It sets out the need to educate people to make them aware of the risk to their health from smoking, obesity and alcohol. This is called ‘prevention’. Therefore the NHS will be more proactive rather than reactive and put its weight behind hard-hitting national action on obesity, smoking, alcohol and other major health risks on the basis that this action will help people to live longer and healthier lives.

More care delivered locally

Second, the NHS will change the way in which care is provided between general practice and hospitals; between physical and mental health and between health and social care. The future, as envisaged by the Five Year Forward View, will see far more care delivered locally; with some specialist centres supporting people with multiple health conditions, not just single diseases. Groups of family doctors will join forces with nurses and other health services, including community hospital specialists, mental health and social care to create integrated out-of-hospital care – this is the Multispecialty Community Provider (MCP).

Services brought together

A further goal will be the joined hospital and primary care provider, Primary and Acute Care Systems, which will bring general practice and hospital services together for the first time. Significantly, urgent and emergency care services are to be redesigned to join A&E departments, GP out-of-hours services, urgent care centres, NHS 111, and ambulance services together.

Much needed support will be provided for vulnerable and elderly people living in care homes.

Because of all the new work they will have to do, GPs will need a lot of support and the NHS says that it will put money into new choices for NHS staff and improve health technology – so that patients’ experience of working together with the NHS is much better.

Using the money

The third argument is about using money well. The NHS needs to work in better ways to be cost effective to meet the demands of the changes set out in the plan, and to be as good as other countries’ health systems. Monitor, NHS England  and independent analysts have assessed the financial deficit between resources and patient needs of almost £30 billion a year by 2020/21. Therefore, to be able to provide the level of care people expect from the NHS, action will be needed on all three fronts

• demand (what is needed)
• efficiency (working in the best way)
• funding (how much money is available)

Ambitious aims

The Five Year Forward View is ambitious and sets out some new and good ideas for the provision of healthcare – both in the way it delivers services to people and in the way it manages its funding, but these changes are dependent upon the funding provided by the Government.

Vanguard sites

Vanguard sites have been set up to test these new models of care. Through the new care models programme, services will be joined up so that patients know where they can get the help they need easily and effectively, seven days a week. It is hoped that fewer trips to hospital will be required as specialists will hold clinics in the community

Graysons’ medical negligence department says:

“The vanguards give the opportunity to test new models running alongside existing services and also to test new models of services in controlled environments. This is absolutely the right way to go for high quality patient care. Primary care delivery is the future, with the hospital becoming the last rather that the first resort for treatment.”

You can find out more about Graysons’ medical negligence services on our web pages.