NHS 2022/23 priorities and operational planning guidance (24 December 2021)

Summary

NHS England has set out 10 priorities for the 2022-23 financial year in its annual planning guidance.

NHSE chief executive Amanda Pritchard makes clear in the introduction that many of its goals remain contingent on covid, stating:

”The objectives set out in this document are based on a scenario where covid-19 returns to a low level and we are able to make significant progress in the first part of next year.”

Content

NHS 2022/2023 priorities:

1. Invest in our workforce – with more people (for example, the additional roles in primary care, expansion of mental health and community services, and tackling substantive gaps in acute care) and new ways of working, and by strengthening the compassionate and inclusive culture needed to deliver outstanding care.
2. Respond to COVID-19 ever more effectively – delivering the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme and meeting the needs of patients with COVID-19.
3. Deliver significantly more elective care to tackle the elective backlog, reduce long waits and improve performance against cancer waiting times standards.
4. Improve the responsiveness of urgent and emergency care (UEC) and build community care capacity– keeping patients safe and offering the right care, at the right time, in the right setting. This needs to be supported by creating the equivalent of 5,000 additional beds, in particular through expansion of virtual ward models, and includes eliminating 12-hour waits in emergency departments (EDs) and minimising ambulance handover delays.
5. Improve timely access to primary care – maximising the impact of the investment in primary medical care and primary care networks (PCNs) to expand capacity, increase the number of appointments available and drive integrated working at neighbourhood and place level.
6. Improve mental health services and services for people with a learning disability and/or autistic people – maintaining continued growth in mental health investment to transform and expand community health services and improve access.
7. Continue to develop our approach to population health management, prevent illhealth and address health inequalities – using data and analytics to redesign care pathways and measure outcomes with a focus on improving access and health equity for underserved communities.
8. Exploit the potential of digital technologies to transform the delivery of care and patient outcomes – achieving a core level of digitisation in every service across systems.
9. Make the most effective use of our resources – moving back to and beyond prepandemic levels of productivity when the context allows this.
10. Establish ICBs and collaborative system working – working together with local authorities and other partners across their ICS to develop a five-year strategic plan for their system and places.