Andrew Fenton

Wes Streeting at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk this morning - very positive and confident over the rate of improvement to NHS performance; waiting lists, A&E waits, GP access & satisfaction. "Waiting times falling for first time in 15 years" - but doesn't comment on rate of change (modest)!

the loss of HW under-values the importance of advocacy - speaking with and up-for people impacted by health inequalities and exclusion; putting focus on 'patient power' alone enabled through tech is a recipe for exclusion.

The only 'theory of change' evident in Streeting's model is to cut 'bureaucracy' to fund and free-up the front-line, with tech thrown in. No evidence of how improvements to productivity and quality happen in reality. "Fewer checkers and more doers".

Wes Streeting at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk puts great emphasis on NHS modernisation (against opposition), patient power, technology, and prevention. "The job of listening to patients can't be farmed out to an arms length body" ie HW
@davewwest.bsky.social @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social

@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com nailing it again.

Fascinating. So in fact a hole in the ground isn’t. Or ‘when you’re in a hole stop digging’ should be ‘in a depression..’. Colloquial use doesn’t really align with the topological definitions.

Agree - the strong focus and clarity of the NHS work on healthcare inequalities since ‘21 is at risk of dilution and dissipation: the 10YHP doesn’t give confidence.

Great to see this published, though it's all change and for health inequalities, sticking the course is key despite institutional upheaval (again)... bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/1...

How have ICSs set out to address healthcare inequalities in their system-strategies and Joint Forward Plans? New paper out in BMJ Open, by authors from NHS South, Central and West, Dr John Ford of @qmul.bsky.social, Solutions for Public Health, and NHS England.

bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/1...

Iceberg of work in GP practices

Helpful to explain what £169/patient/year pays for (this is £40 less than 2015 in real terms funding & only £123 is patient care)

380million appts in GP practices - half with GPs

But there is more to General Practice than just appts

@rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social

To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone. We will not let hate or those who spread it win. We stand with you.

On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.

As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.

At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.

Strangely muted response to this new report from the @healthfoundation.bsky.social on Labour's First Year on NHS / Health policy, largely critical (with good reason) and the first think-tank to come out highlighting lack of coherence and disruptive reorganisation.

www.health.org.uk/publications...

Small Bengal cat on a sofa looking startled.

The far-right is in its pomp. We will have to fight for our values like never before.

iandunt.substack.com/p/encounteri...

Regional health divisions in the UK Coordinated action is needed to resolve inequalities People in the poorer areas of the UK are dying on average nine years younger than those in more affluent areas.1 This divide, which is the fourth ...

A country divided by health inequalities. Solving the UK regional health divide. bmj.com/cgi/content/... @felly500.bsky.social @jesstud.bsky.social @ipprnorth.bsky.social @clesthinkdo.bsky.social

Shiny tech, health equity, and deliverability of the 10 year health plan Fit for the Future - some personal reflections and selected links to post-plan commentary. | Andrew Fenton Shiny tech, health equity, and deliverability of the 10 year health plan Fit for the Future - some personal reflections and selected links to post-plan commentary. Mark Golledge Jessica Rose Morley, ...

Shiny tech, health equity, and deliverability of the 10 year health plan Fit for the Future, some personal reflections and selected links to post-plan commentary, inc great posts by @samfr.bsky.social & @jessrmorley.bsky.social & reflecting @policyskeptic.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/posts/fenton...

Excellent analysis here from @samfr.bsky.social on the 10yr-health plan. The benefit of having some distance from the inner workings of the NHS & think-tanks in its sphere is apparent. In summary: willing the NHS to improve with enthusiasm is not a remedy to deep short & long term challenges

NHS 10-Year Plan: I Think I've Seen This Film Before, and I Didn't Like the Ending The long-awaited NHS 10-Year Plan has finally arrived—eight years to the day since I first joined the Department of Health and Social Care. Calling it a "plan" might be generous, given the delivery ch...

I highly recommend Jess Morley’s analysis of the NHS Ten-Year Plan: www.linkedin.com/pulse/nhs-10...

Great use of Taylor Swift lyrics!

Is it "Fit for the future"? The NHS 10-year plan and the social determinants of Health Labour released its 10-year NHS plan this week - in this post I have a look at whether and how it deals with the social determinants of health

Labour launched its NHS 10 year plan this week.

Many have already written about it, esp on health care delivery.

My latest post looks at the plans on the social determinants health - some good news, some gaps.

The devil is in the delivery and reducing poverty.

open.substack.com/pub/christin...

This blog will have a short shelf-life, but in advance of the #10YearPlan sharing some thoughts on possible risks of a dominant focus on tech-enabled change, if this is at the expense of left-shift… |... This blog will have a short shelf-life, but in advance of the #10YearPlan sharing some thoughts on possible risks of a dominant focus on tech-enabled change, if this is at the expense of left-shift to...

Impressive detailed analysis, balancing the good, the bad and the ugly of the 10YHP. I predicted a tech-heavy plan a few days ago in a blog, and it’s perhaps not as dominated as I feared, there are signs of continued over reliance on data and tech to solve the nhs.
www.linkedin.com/posts/fenton...

agree. I understand it won't be published on line until it's announced in Parliament later this morning.

Will the 10 Year Health Plan favour tech-driven Bio-Medicalisation? The #10YearPlan for the NHS is eagerly awaited and much trailed, with a number of forerunning announcements already made - such as reform of GP funding to help target more deprived communities, the cl...

Will the 10 Year Health Plan favour tech-driven Bio-Medicalisation? - follow the money to see where trade-offs are made in the 10YHP, with primary & community-centred care at risk of domination by technophile models.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-yea...

Particularly timely given the technophile / biomedical approach propounded by Wes Streeting and worrying signs that the 10YHP will feature this heavily - whilst the ‘Health Mission’ and cross-dept strategy is nowhere to be seen.

the most basic, enduring plea from medicine: stop obsessing over tech solutions for tiny marginal returns when we haven't even mastered the basics of 19thC public health reform, let alone anything more sophisticated.

What Does the 2025 Comprehensive Spending Review Mean For Health And Care | The King's Fund Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, Siva Anandaciva unpacks the numbers to explore what they mean for health and care.

"Not for the first time then, health services will see significant funding increases without it feeling like a bonanza for the people who run or receive services."

Siva Anandaciva in @thekingsfund.bsky.social blog with analysis of the Spending Review

www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

its time to take prevention seriously and fully engage people in keeping healthy and using services wisely - this must be at the heart of the 10 year NHS plan. The road for increasing spending on a sickness service is running out

This by @shaunlintern.bsky.social describes well the perilous situation the NHS is in and the scale of the challenge to secure improvement, but like the Andrew Rawnsley piece in the Observer there is strangely no mention of the NHSE abolition and the major cuts and reorg of ICS, risking disruption.

'Creating a cross-government plan for health may not all be plain sailing: it will require difficult decisions. But to duck those decisions is a choice too – and one that is unlikely to end well.' Alex Kennedy, Policy and Engagement Manager in Healthy Lives at the Health Foundation

What happened to the government’s health mission? Good health isn't just built in hospitals but shaped by living conditions - from adequate income to secure housing.

Alex Kennedy outlines the need for a cross-government plan to improve health and reduce health inequalities⬇️

https://bit.ly/3TorQHg

Our research is set to have a significant impact on NHS translation and interpreting service provision via @england.nhs.uk's new Improvement Framework.

The emphasis on cultural sensitivity, digital exclusion and community partnership will be vital for high-quality services.

👉 tinyurl.com/yh63x3cb