NHS Assembly announced to help deliver the Long Term Plan

29 Mar 2019 01:54 PM

A neonatal intensive care nurse, a GP who champions work with community groups and prominent disability and learning disability advocates are among people from across the country appointed to a new forum which will support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Building on the collaborative approach to developing the Long Term Plan, the NHS Assemblyhas been created to advise the Boards of NHS England and NHS Improvement on delivery of the improvements in health and care it outlined.

More than 500 people applied to sit on the Assembly, with the successful applicants chosen based on their individual knowledge, skills and experience.

The Assembly members are drawn from national and frontline clinical leaders, patients and carers, staff representatives, health and care system leaders and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

The membership includes practising or training doctors, nurses and other health professionals, ensuring that the needs and priorities of the NHS’s 1.3m-strong workforce are well represented.

Members also include a parent carer from Nottingham, a patient representative from West Yorkshire, and the leaders of Age UK and Carers UK.

The group will meet for the first time in Spring, and then quarterly afterwards, bringing their experience, knowledge and links to wider networks to inform discussion and debate on the NHS’s work and priorities.

The Assembly will be co-chaired by leading GP Dr Claire Gerada, and former head of the King’s Fund think tank, Professor Sir Chris Ham.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: “The NHS Assembly rightly reflects a wide diversity of patient, public and staff views and expertise. It builds on the inclusive process for designing the NHS Long Term Plan, and will help guide its implementation in the years to come.”

Dr Gerada said: “The quality and range of the Assembly members, and the large number who applied, is testament to the special place that the NHS has in the nation’s heart. The NHS Assembly will play a key part in ensuring the delivery of the Long Term Plan, and therefore shaping the future of the NHS.”

The list of NHS Assembly members is below: