NHS given its 10 priorities for 2022

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

NHSE chief executive Amanda Pritchard makes clear in an 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.”

The 10 priorities are:

• Workforce investment, including “strengthening the compassionate and inclusive culture needed to deliver outstanding care”.
• Responding to COVID-19.
• Delivering “significantly more elective care to tackle the elective backlog”.
• Improving “the responsiveness of urgent and emergency care and community care capacity.”
• Increasing timely access to primary care, “maximising the impact of the investment in primary medical care and primary care networks”.
• Maintaining “continued growth in mental health investment to transform and expand community health services and improve access”.
• Using data and analytics to “redesign care pathways and measure outcomes with a focus on improving access and health equity for underserved communities”.
• Achieving “a core level of digitisation in every service across systems”.
• Returning to and better “prepandemic levels of productivity”.
• Establishing integrated care boards and collaborative system working, and “working together with local authorities and other partners across their ICS to develop a five-year strategic plan for their system and places”.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 24 December 2021