Reacting to this weeks launch of the 10 Year Health Plan for NHS services in England, Professor Rowan Parks, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh said:
“Today’s announcement is an important first step toward safeguarding the future of the NHS.
"We agree with the Prime Minister that the current situation facing the NHS is untenable. Extended waiting lists and waiting times are the norm for many patients, and our members and fellows inform us of the frustrations they have in delivering surgical and dental care.
"Each year, around 135,000 operations in England are cancelled on-the-day, costing the NHS an estimated £400m annually in lost operating theatre time. Moreover, an estimated 45% of hospital costs can be attributed to 3% of patients many of whom often have modifiable issues such as unhealthy lifestyles, frailty, and unmanaged co-existing conditions.
"Therefore, the principles of the 10 Year Health Plan – moving care from hospitals to community settings, better use of technology and an ongoing focus on sickness prevention - offer a way to both reduce demand on hospitals and promote the very patient-centred, preventative health service that Bevan envisaged for the NHS.
"The transformational change suggested in this will be challenging for our healthcare workforce and it is important that we prioritise the welfare of all the members of our surgical, dental and multidisciplinary teams during the transition.
"Our Dental faculty, which is the largest in the UK, is heartened to see clear focus on improving access to dental care as part of the new Neighbourhood Health Service. We are keen to open dialogue with the government on how this can be best achieved. We are also pleased to see a commitment to invest in the technological infrastructure of the NHS and the rapid introduction of innovative advances, such as robotic surgery.
"Over the next few days, we will be analysing the plan and identifying areas where we can work collaboratively with the government and other stakeholders to ensure that any proposed change has patient safety, satisfaction and equity of access at the heart of the process."