NHS Long Term Plan Report: Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull

Following a commitment from the Government to increase investment, the NHS published the ‘Long Term Plan’ in January 2019, setting out its key ambitions over the next 10 years. Local Healthwatch across the country were asked to find out what people want from health and support services for the next decade. Working with Healthwatch Solihull, more than 690 people shared their views with us.

Healthwatch Birmingham was ‘Highly Commended’ at the national Healthwatch conference for our NHS Long Term Plan report. This gave recognition to our impact in ensuring people’s views were heard and considered by the NHS. 

The public’s priorities included:

• access to the help and treatment I need when I want it (44%)
• jointly choosing the right treatment with the relevant health and care professional (38%)
• being able to stay in my own home for as long as it is safe to do so (48%)

Our recommendations to the NHS:

• clearly lay out how the health and social care system will improve communication pathways with patients.
• address individual and community skill gaps for self-care.
• eliminate local gaps in meeting the Accessible Information Standard.
• reflect on the availability of services to support individuals, with improvements made to referral pathways, waiting lists/times and the distribution of services.
• implement actions, where waiting times are unavoidable, to support individuals to selfcare.
• detail how assets within communities will be supported and developed, identifying and addressing any gaps across Birmingham and Solihull.
• address how local NHS services will work across all partners to reduce the stigma of mental health, disability and other conditions, support individuals and build self-efficacy for self-care.

By addressing these in the development of the plan, the NHS will better enable local communities to look after their own health.