The Guardian View on Labor’s NHS Plan: it is just to celebrate medical science, but delivery is the difficult part | Editorial

TThe NHS is a totemic institution in the history of work and that of the country, and the voters care more than most of the things that the government does. Thus, the publication of the plan for health in 10 years of plowing in England was therefore a crucial opportunity for ministers to show that they are in tune with the public. Given that satisfaction with the health service has reached a record hollow of 21%, and doctors threaten again to go on strike, the announcement was also a moment of danger-even before the damage suffered by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor earlier this week, when the rebels have forced a U-turn on the cups provided for well-being.

The overall principles of labor reforms were defined last year: more prevention, more technology, more care provided in the community (as opposed to the hospital). The challenge was therefore to find something fresh, original and hope to say. The promise of science and the potential of localism are what the Wes Stting team has proposed. The illustrated DNA strand on the cover of the document indicates high expectations in terms of genomic medicine and other advanced technologies. Neighborhood clinics, on the other hand, represent prosaic recognition of the demand for more ordinary services and treatment, of an aging and increasingly unhealthy population. The goal is to provide most ambulatory care far from hospitals by 2035.

This could mean that general practitioners surgeries are more like hospitals or hospital trusts playing a more important role in primary care. The plans of new contracts clearly indicate that the two are possible. But although it sounds well in theory, the questions remain on how, and by which, such crucial decisions will be made and if the new model will be better than the old. With the abolition of NHS England and the reduction of integrated care councils, the existing administration is radically reduced. One of the risks of the next few years is that this behind -the -scenes of behind the scenes will distract the time and energy of the front line.

The plans to move the resources of richer areas to the poorest deserve an unequivocal welcome. There is no great secret on the expertise that is concentrated in prestigious educational hospitals, or on the richer and better educated people being more confident defenders for themselves and their loved ones. Changing the “best in rest” is both a neat slogan and recognition of current injustice. The plans to integrate support for employment and services such as debt advice in health centers indicate an encouraging awareness that disease and disability have socioeconomic and biological causes.

The plan tells a promising story. Health care is a field of human progress that everyone can celebrate. It is plausible that proactive labor ministers can both stimulate progress and ensure that they are more equitably shared than in marketed systems. The integration of more health workers in communities and to focus on awareness -raising could help improve population health. But there are disturbing shortcomings.

The reform of social care should be approached separately, but the worsening of mental health, especially among young people, also needs dedicated attention and research. Ministers should also be in a hurry on the contradictions between their health plan and their pro-commune anti-regulation message to businesses-including those who sell alcohol and high sugar content that cause obesity. Having brought control of the NHS to England internally, at the heart of the government, Mr. Streting must now find people with imagination to further develop his plan, while transforming it into action.

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