WIREDGOV

Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive of The Patients Association, said: “Patients are rightly concerned that NHS England’s Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) will result in downgraded local services instead of the step-change transformations that they should be delivering.

“We very much hope that STPs will deliver on the huge potential that we know they hold. They contain some genuinely ambitious proposals for GPs, community nurses and other services to work together in new joined-up ways. These would improve outcomes for patients, by keeping people well for longer in their own homes and reducing the need for hospital stays.

“But the research published this week by both the King’s Fund and the BBC suggests that without up-front investment in these community services, these benefits might never flow to patients. Instead, the risk is that some hospital services will close without proper alternatives being available, through either insufficient funds or rushed implementation.

NHS England’s lack of engagement with patients on STPs has not helped. Not only have patients’ needs and preferences not been taken into account in these plans, but NHS England has not been effective in explaining the substantial benefits the changes should bring – if they are properly resourced and implemented.”

Notes for Editors

The BBC news article can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39031546

The Kings Fund article can be found here: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/delivering-sustainability-and-transformation-plans