Wes Streeting is set to reveal plans for people to monitor their own health from the comfort of their homes with a 10-year plan aimed at revolutionising the NHS.
The health secretary wants to roll out smartwatches to more members of the public in a bid to tackle debilitating conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
The devices would allow people to monitor their blood pressure and glucose levels, and be warned about spikes before their health took a turn for the worse.
The innovation is part of a wider set of reforms aimed at bringing back community-led health treatment and eventually cutting the cost of healthcare in the UK.
It appears it will be linked with a massive investment of billions as the government attempts to “fix” the NHS with a 10-year plan.
Mr Streeting said: “Our 10-year health plan will turn the NHS on its head – transforming it into a Neighbourhood Health Service – powered by cutting-edge technology, that helps us stay healthy and out of hospital. We will rebuild the health service around what patients tell us they need.
“The challenges for the NHS are stark, but the opportunities are huge. Modern technology will transform how patients are cared for, making their lives infinitely easier and the NHS fit for the future.
“At the same time, we will protect what patients want from the NHS – the family doctor relationship, free healthcare at the point of need, and shorter waits for appointments. Our 10-year health plan will preserve the NHS’s traditional values in a modern setting.
“It’s going to take time, but it is our mission to take the NHS from the worst crisis in its history, get it back on its feet, and make it fit for the future.”
The 10-year health plan will include new neighbourhood health centres, establish a single patient medical record, and look at how more patients can be supported to monitor their health from the comfort of their own homes.
The Department for Health and Social Care said this would stop patients “having to go from pillar to post” and enable them to be treated for minor injuries “without having to wait for hours in overstretched hospitals”.
Combining GP surgeries with other neighbourhood services has been tried on several occasions before, including in parts of London in the 1920s and 1930s prior to the creation of the NHS.
The last Labour government attempted to introduce a similar idea after Lord Ara Darzi, who wrote the current government’s rapid review of the state of the NHS, recommended creating a series of “polyclinics” in London and GP-led health centres elsewhere.
They encountered stiff opposition from doctors and some patients who were concerned that they would end up having to travel further to see a GP, especially outside of major cities.
The plans were paused and then scrapped by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010.
The Royal College of Nursing welcomed plans to shift treatment from hospitals to communities, but general secretary Nicola Ranger said the NHS “simply does not have the nursing numbers to deliver it”.
She said: “Without new investment, the number of community nurses will stay on track to be half what it was two decades ago.
“Nursing staff are ready to help deliver the modernisation our health service needs, but staff are overworked and chronically undervalued. We were the only NHS profession to reject the government’s pay award. Reforms must come with the investment needed to turn around nursing.”
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, also said more funding would be needed to deliver the government’s plan.
She said: “Trust leaders will work with the government to get to grips with the challenges facing health and social care and to deliver improvements. They know the NHS needs to work differently and go further and faster to improve care for patients.
“However, this must go hand-in-hand with sustainable funding and investment, particularly for capital, an end to chronic workforce shortages and more support to meet growing demand, not just in hospitals but across mental health, community and ambulance services too.”
