The Government is developing a 10 Year Plan to reform the NHS, which will be structured around three big ‘shifts’ - from hospital to community care, from analogue to digital and a shift in focus from treatment to prevention.
To ensure we are in the best possible position to respond to this Plan, we, along with the five other trusts which make up the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), have agreed to undertake a review to help us to identify opportunities and challenges to ensuring patients receive equitable access, outcomes, and experience.
Initial work will take place between now and March 2025. The findings from this work will be reviewed by trust boards in April 2025. In this first phase, engagement will be primarily through the existing clinical networks and forums across WYAAT.
All systems across the NHS will need to undertake similar work in response to the 10 Year Plan. We, as part of WYAAT, have a good history of working together and we already know a lot about our services, population, and teams. Our partnership work with the Mid Yorkshire Teaching Trust to support non-surgical oncology services is an example of how Trusts in West Yorkshire already work together to support one another, where it makes sense to do so.
This review will help ensure our services remain sustainable and meet future population needs.