State of health and care: The NHS Long Term Plan after COVID-19 (Institute for Public Policy Research, 16 March 2021)

Summary

After a decade of austerity, The NHS Long Term Plan was meant to be a turning point for healthcare. However, those plans have been severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. New analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research shows the scale of the damage done by the pandemic across several major health conditions.

It recommends a package of six ambitious changes to ‘build back better’. These policies are designed to do three things.

• First, they intend to ensure the pandemic does not cause lasting damage to healthcare services for future generations.
• Second, they look to bring in areas – like social care and public health – that are not covered in The NHS Long Term Plan, but which COVID-19 has harshly reminded us are integral to healthcare.
• Third, they look to capture the innovations that occurred during the pandemic.