Following Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into the state of the National Health Service (NHS), the next step in creating a new 10-year Health Plan is under way. The NHS have launched Change NHS, the ‘biggest ever conversation about the future of the NHS’, aiming to gather diverse input to shape the future of healthcare in the UK. This review and consultation are essential to ensuring the NHS’s 10-year plan reflects the voices and needs of communities.
What the Change NHS Consultation is Asking
The Change NHS consultation seeks input from a broad spectrum of voices across the UK, including health professionals, Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations, and members of the public. The aim is to develop an inclusive plan that meets people’s needs on various levels.
Why the VCSE Voice is Essential
For VCSE organisations, the consultation offers an opportunity to contribute insights rooted in community connection and frontline engagement. VCSE organisations have a deep understanding of the communities they serve and can provide perspectives that might be missed by other healthcare stakeholders.
The three key shifts the government wants to see—moving care from hospitals to communities, shifting focus from treatment to prevention, and achieving inclusive digital transformation—are central to the aims of the Integrated Care Board (ICB)'s Healthier and Fairer programme. This focusses on tackling health inequalities across the NENC region and especially values the role VCSEs, social prescribing, and community assets play in supporting health and wellbeing. The VCSE is also a critical partner in achieving inclusive digital transformation, helping to ensure lived experience informs design and to understand the needs of people for whom digital is not a viable option.
A shift toward prevention is essential, but requires consideration of a wide range of factors—housing, employment, isolation, poverty, education, and access to healthy food—all of which impact health and wellbeing. Local VCSEs, often led by staff and volunteers who live in and understand the communities they serve, are critical partners in achieving these goals. However, they can only continue to provide effective support if they receive the investment they need, alongside the growth of social prescribing and community assets.
By highlighting their unique perspectives, VCSE sector organisations can shape policies that make healthcare more inclusive, proactive, and preventive.
How to Take Part in the Change NHS Consultation
The Change NHS consultation is designed to collect insights through various pathways, depending on the type of feedback you wish to provide:
General Survey: This is a broad survey aiming to gather headline ideas on how the NHS could improve. You can begin here to provide your initial thoughts on necessary changes. Take the survey.
Your Experiences - Public: For individuals with personal experience using health and care services. Share your experiences.
Your Experience - Workforce: A survey for healthcare professionals, allowing staff to share insights on their roles and experiences within the system. Contribute as workforce.
Organisation Perspective: Designed for organisations to provide feedback on priorities for the 10-year plan, challenges, and enablers related to community care, prevention, and digital transformation. Organisational feedback. Closes 2nd Dec 5pm.
Your Ideas for Change: This survey invites ideas on what needs to change and how, providing a platform to draw on the experience, skills and ideas of anyone who would like to contribute. Submit your ideas.
Additionally, beyond these surveys, there will be further regional engagement opportunities. The Change NHS website provides details on how Integrated Care Systems (ICS) will organise events and gather both local and regional feedback. The VCSE Partnership Programme team is in touch with Integrated Care Board (ICB) colleagues about their regional plans and we will share engagement opportunities across our network as they emerge.
Visit the CHANGE NHS website for more details on how to get involved and to stay updated on upcoming engagement events. We will continue to keep you updated as new information emerges, ensuring a strong VCSE voice is represented every step of the way.
In parallel, the VCSE Partnership Programme is ensuring that VCSE sector perspectives on The Darzi Report are shared with our Integrated Care Board (ICB). A working group meeting is taking place to focus on structuring the sector's engagement with the report. This process is separate from the Change NHS surveys; instead, it’s an opportunity to collectively reflect on the report’s content across various key areas and share how we, as a sector, can support, participate, and lead in each area. This work will also connect closely with the efforts of the Quality Development Toolkit (QDT), which aims to address barriers to VCSE integration into Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), and contribute valuable insights to the NHS 10-Year Plan.