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• More than 100 people from across London took part in the biggest ever national conversation to get the NHS back on its feet聽

• Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andrew Gwynne, alongside the Chair of NHS England, Richard Meddings, spoke with locals on ideas to reshape the NHS as part of the government鈥檚 10 Year Health Plan聽

• The event comes as data shows over 1.2 million people across the London region are on NHS waiting lists

• Government鈥檚 Plan for Change will deliver a decade of national renewal and build an NHS fit for the future

London became the latest region to host the biggest ever conversation about the future of the NHS, as part of a nationwide series of public events looking at how to fix the health service.聽

More than 100 people from across London came together to share their views today (Sunday 8 December) on the NHS in the region, where waiting lists surpass 1.2 million, and over 34,000 people have been waiting more than a year.聽

Attendees heard from the Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andrew Gwynne, and the Chair of NHS England, Richard Meddings, who outlined their commitment to transforming the NHS.聽

They also spoke directly to locals from the region on their opinions on how best to reform the NHS and how the government鈥檚 10 Year Health Plan can help tackle disparities in the wider region and get the NHS back on its feet.聽

This week the government set out its Plan for Change to drive a decade of national renewal, which will tackle waiting lists and help to build an NHS fit for the future.

Opening the event, Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andrew Gwynne, said:

I want to say thank you for coming here for this important event. I love the National Health Service, but it is going through the worst crisis in its history - long waits for operations, difficulties getting a GP appointment and people living longer with ill health, often with preventable illness.

But this gives us an opportunity as the new government with a new ambition to fix our NHS as part of a decade of national renewal. And that鈥檚 what this event is about - hearing from you and understanding how we shape the NHS and how we fix it, not just for today, but for the next 10 years and beyond. So, together, we build a health service fit for the future.

Richard Meddings, Chair of NHS England, said:

NHS staff are doing an incredible job delivering record levels of care for patients, but with an ageing and growing population we know we need to do more to build an NHS fit for the future.

We are determined to ensure that as many of our staff, patients and the public can share their best ideas for the NHS so that we can spread these innovations across the country. And today鈥檚 10 Year Health Plan event in London has been a fantastic opportunity for us to hear from people about their experiences.

I have been incredibly impressed by ideas we have heard today including how investing steadily behind technology can empower our staff and transform our patients鈥� experience. I know with continued public and staff support, we can build on this momentum and create an NHS fit for the future.

The minister and NHS England Chair also visited聽Great Ormond Street Hospital, where they learned more about Epic, the electronic patient record system, and met clinicians and consultants at the hospital.

Last month the government issued a rallying cry to the nation - including all 1.5 million NHS staff, patients, experts and the wider public - to visit the online platform 聽to share their experiences, views and ideas for fixing the NHS and to help shape the plan. 聽

Change.nhs.uk聽has already received almost 1.2 million separate visits, with over 9,000 ideas聽now live on the site. It will be live until spring 2025 and is also available via the NHS App.

Thousands of ideas to fix the health service have been submitted, with suggestions including:聽

• establishing an NHS research health company that can be used to get insights on early prevention聽

• digital records, so records from all hospitals are available to view at all GP surgeries 聽

• 鈥榩op-up鈥� or mobile clinics to meet surge demand for services in areas of need聽

• stopping giving out paper leaflets and sending letters, and limiting this to those who do not have access to IT, to reduce waste聽聽

All submitted ideas will be carefully considered as part of the engagement process so that we can better understand the priorities of the public, patients and people working in health and care.聽

People in the London region are being affected by a range of health issues. As of September 2024, the latest data shows:

• a waiting list of more than 1.2 million in the London commissioning region, with over 34,000 of those waits being more than a year
• a waiting list of more than 194,000 at the North Central London Integrated Care Board, with over 4,000 of those being more than a year
• a waiting list of more than 74,000 at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with over 1,400 of those being more than a year
• a waiting list of more than 8,000 at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, with over 200 of those being more than a year

At the end of September 2024, data shows:聽

• over 38,000 patients waited more than 4 weeks for a GP appointment in the London region
• over 4,600 patients waited more than 4 weeks for a GP appointment at the North Central London Integrated Care Board

The public engagement exercise will help shape the government鈥檚 10 Year Health Plan, which will be published in spring 2025 and will be underlined by 3 big shifts in healthcare:聽

• hospital to community聽
• analogue to digital聽
• sickness to prevention 聽聽

As part of the first shift from 鈥榟ospital to community鈥�, the government wants to deliver plans for new neighbourhood health centres, which will be closer to homes and communities. Patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors or mental health specialists, all under the same roof. 聽

In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App.聽

By moving from sickness to prevention, the government wants to shorten the amount of time people spend in ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen.聽

Comments about the event from those who attended included:

It鈥檚 great that everyone can come here today and discuss the future of the NHS, as everyone has some kind of personal experience of it, so it鈥檚 beneficial for the public and for everyone to know what this 10 Year Plan is. The discussions today are fascinating, and I like to think that it will reassure the public, because it鈥檚 really important that they are aware that this is happening. The discussions are looking at ways of how to improve the NHS as it鈥檚 a public service. Whatever happens today [I hope] that some of this can be implemented just for the betterment and for the future of the NHS to be sustainable.

It鈥檚 very important to look forward to the next 10 years and try and get the care system back. Everybody鈥檚 [from a] different age group, and we鈥檙e all talking together, discussing what can happen in the future, the next 3 years, 5 years, 10 years. And everybody鈥檚 got their position on us, and it鈥檚 been well discussed. Different age has been very important, and [it鈥檚] all coming across really well.

Today has been very interesting, and there have been lots of good ideas. We all know that the NHS does need to make a change, because it鈥檚 strained to capacity. I know, from personal experience, that waiting times are long - even getting to talk to your GP is difficult. There definitely needs to be a change. I think today is great, with discussions and batting around really good ideas and everyone is learning a lot of things. And this is what the NHS needs to do, look at other regions where it is working and try and find out why things are working in one place and not working elsewhere.