Welcome to the latest report in our Providers Deliver series which aims to share and celebrate the work of NHS trusts and foundation trusts.
The government has put the NHS front and centre of its policy agenda, having expressed concern about patients not being able to get the care they need when they need it. Focusing on demand and waits for frontline services including urgent and emergency care and mental health services, the relentless pressures are clear. Despite increased activity across many services, NHS performances remains a long way off where patients need it to be.
This Providers Deliver report illustrates how NHS trusts and their partners are ensuring people can access and receive the care they need in the right place, at the right time. The case studies in this report show how trusts are driving forward the 'left shift' and increasing the amount of patient need that is being met within the community and out of hospital. It also builds and moves the conversation on from our earlier report, Providers Deliver: patient flow, which focused on trusts' innovative solutions to improving patient flow in the face of unparalleled pressures post-pandemic (NHS Providers, 2023).
Examples in this report include an acute trust which has made 'home first' central to its strategy; a community trust which is utilising remote monitoring of individuals; and a mental health trust that has collaborated with housing providers to prevent patients deteriorating to the point of crisis. Our report demonstrates just a small selection of how NHS trusts are already aligning with the 'three shifts' of the new government: hospital to community, analogue to digital and treatment to prevention.
By working across organisational boundaries, including with primary care, and partnering with the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and social care, NHS trusts are better serving their local populations and achieving more for taxpayers. Collaborative working is essential in allowing each partner to play to its strengths and deliver care in the most effective and efficient way.
Ultimately, we agree with Lord Darzi's assessment that while the NHS is in a critical condition, the vital signs are strong (Darzi, 2024). The case studies in this report highlight that. However, Lord Darzi's investigation makes important and powerful points on the need to shift care into the community and ensure financial flows align with these ambitions.
To improve patient care and boost productivity – and ensure an NHS fit for the future – we need an enabling operating environment that promotes a more preventative and holistic approach to care. This will help trusts to deliver care in the most appropriate setting as well as support the government's ambitions to provide more care closer to home. We need a clear strategy for substantially increasing the proportion of patient demand met within primary and community care, with necessary investment and prioritisation.
NHS Providers has urged the government to work with and support the NHS to address current demand and pressures. Our Picture of Health briefing highlights the five shared commitments the government should focus on, to deliver the 'next generation' NHS (NHS Providers, 2024).