NHS Long Term Plan - an endorsement of what we’ve been doing in partnership across Lancashire and South Cumbria

Health leaders across Lancashire and South Cumbria have welcomed the publication of the NHS Long Term Plan.

The 133-page plan, which was published today (Monday 7 January 2019), outlines the priorities for the health service over the next decade.

It describes how the NHS will make sure people get the best start in life, and how patients can expect world-class care for major health problems.

The plan also details how different organisations should work closer together to make sure health and care services are more joined up and delivered in the right place and at the right time for local people and their families.

It outlines how services should be joined up within neighbourhoods – geographical communities with populations of typically between 30,000 to 50,000 – to support people to stay well.

What the NHS Long Term Plan means for Lancashire and South Cumbria

Dr Amanda Doyle OBE, a local GP and Chief Officer for Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria said: “We are delighted that there will be a significant increase in relative investment in primary and community care, which will see expanded neighbourhood teams working together in a more joined up way - from GPs, pharmacists and district nurses to physiotherapists, social care workers and colleagues in the voluntary sector. We also applaud the move to strengthen work on preventing ill health and tackling health inequalities. I am proud that we are going further than ever before to improve care quality and outcomes for key priority areas, including cancer, mental health, learning disability and autism, diabetes, stroke and children’s health.

“The plan clearly endorses what we have been doing for some time here across Lancashire and South Cumbria in terms of partnership working and bringing services together. We enjoy extremely strong working relationships with our local authority partners, as well as those from the voluntary, community and faith sector and the many groups of people who volunteer their time to help shape and improve health and care services.

“We are confident that closer integration of services and partnership working is vital to improve the experience of patients and also to support people to keep well. People often fall through the gaps which exist between organisations; bringing services and teams together will help to stop this.

“We are looking forward to working in partnership with local authority, public sector and voluntary and community organisations over the coming months to involve local people, health and care staff and our partners in the detail of the work which is taking place and how we will deliver the Long Term Plan for the 1.7 million people in Lancashire and South Cumbria.”

Find out more about the Long Term Plan

• Find out more on the NHS Long Term Plan website