This week, the Prime Minister launched the Long Term Plan for the NHS – a historic moment for patients in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport and across the country.
The publication of the plan follows the announcement last year that the NHS would receive £20.5 billion extra by 2023-24, of which £30 million is being used to upgrade the A&E department at Derriford Hospital. In return, the NHS was asked to develop a plan for how to spend this additional funding to transform patient care and make sure every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.
The plan is based on a new focus on prevention – keeping people out of hospital by improving their health and investing £4.5 billion in primary and community care, supporting GPs, health visitors and community nurses across Plymouth.
The plan will ensure that the NHS is always there for you and your family, from continuing to improve maternity safety to increasing health and social care integration to support older people.
It will also speed up the diagnosis and improve the treatment of serious conditions like cancer and stroke, increasing the NHS workforce and bringing the NHS into the digital age.
The Long Term Plan for the NHS will protect the future of the NHS for generations to come by ensuring every penny of the accompanying £20.5 billion of extra funding is spent wisely.
I am pleased that it has been developed by the NHS, ensuring it will work for both patients and staff. Workforce is at the heart of the plan, with tens of thousands more doctors, nurses and other health professionals improving access to healthcare for people in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, the rest of Plymouth and across the country.
This historic funding increase underpinning the plan is due to the Conservatives balanced approach to the economy – proving that the NHS is our number one spending priority. This flies in the face of accusations that we're not interested in the NHS or its future.
If you're interested in seeing more of the details of the plan, you can visit this site or view a PDF of the plan and it's summary below.