More than 100 people from across London came together to share their views on the NHS in the region

London became the latest region to host the biggest ever conversation about the future of the NHS, as part of a nationwide series of public events looking at how to fix the health service. 

More than 100 people from across London came together to share their views today (Sunday 8 December) on the NHS in the region, where waiting lists surpass 1.2 million, and over 34,000 people have been waiting more than a year. 

Attendees heard from Public Health Minister, Andrew Gwynne, and the Chair of NHS England, Richard Meddings, who outlined their commitment to transforming the NHS. 

They also spoke directly to locals from the region on their opinions on how best to reform the NHS and how the government’s 10 Year Health Plan can help tackle disparities in the wider region and get the NHS back on its feet. 

This week the Government set out its Plan for Change to drive a decade of national renewal, which will tackle waiting lists and help to build an NHS fit for the future.

Opening the event, Public Health Minister, Andrew Gwynne, said:

Richard Meddings, Chair of NHS England said:

The Minister and NHS England Chair also visited Great Ormond Street Hospital, where they learned more about EPIC, the electronic patient record system, and meet clinicians and consultants at the hospital.

Last month, the government issued a rallying cry to the nation – including all 1.5 million NHS staff, patients, experts, and the wider public – to visit the online platform change.nhs.uk to share their experiences, views and ideas for fixing the NHS and to help shape the plan.  

Change.nhs.uk has already received almost 1.2 million separate visits, with over 9,000 ideas now live on the site. It will be live until spring 2025 and is available via the NHS App.

Thousands of ideas to fix the health service have been submitted, with suggestions including:

 

All submitted ideas will be carefully considered as part of the engagement process so that we can better understand the priorities of the public, patients and people working in health and care. 

People in the London region are being affected by a range of health issues. As of September 2024, the latest data shows:

At the end of September 2024, data shows: 

The public engagement exercise will help shape the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, which will be published in spring 2025 and will be underlined by three big shifts in healthcare: 

As part of the first shift from ‘hospital to community’, the government wants to deliver plans for new neighbourhood health centres, which will be closer to homes and communities. Patients will be able to see family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, health visitors or mental health specialists, all under the same roof.  

In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App. 

By moving from sickness to prevention, the government wants to shorten the amount of time people spend in ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen. 

Comments about the event from those who attended included: