NHS 10-Year Plan: Delivering Community-Based Care

This week marks a significant moment for the NHS, as the Government launches a bold 10-Year Health Plan. Guided by three principles - moving from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention - the plan sets out to build a more patient-focused, equitable, and sustainable NHS for the future.

At EMS Healthcare, we support the neighboughood-first approach as we continue our comittment to delivering flexible, community-based health and research facilities that bring care closer to the people who need it most.

Shifting Care from Hospitals to Communities

The 10-Year Plan signals a move away from a “hospital by default” mindset, towards delivering care in patients’ homes or local neighbourhood services whenever possible. Launching the plan in Stratford, East London, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said:

“The NHS should be there for everyone, whenever they need it... It’s reform or die. Our 10 Year Health Plan will fundamentally rewire and future‑proof our NHS so that it puts care on people’s doorsteps, harnesses game‑changing tech and prevents illness in the first place.”

Mobile units located within communities are proven to make it easier for people to access care in ways that fit their daily lives, while freeing up hospitals to focus on the most critical and complex cases. As Health Secretary Wes Streeting explained:

“By shifting from hospital to community, we will finally bring down devastating hospital waiting lists and stop patients going from pillar to post.”

At EMS Healthcare, we believe community-first infrastructure is key. Our mobile units can be rapidly deployed to deliver high-quality services directly in local areas, supporting neighbourhood health teams and making healthcare more convenient and improve health outcomes.

Expanding NHS Services in Disadvantaged Areas

Health inequalities remain a stark challenge across England. People in the most deprived areas spend more of their lives in ill health, while life expectancy among the lowest-income groups is falling. Too often, communities lack access to nearby primary or specialist care, which drives poorer health outcomes and higher hospital admissions.

The NHS 10-Year Plan will expand provision in disadvantaged areas, breaking down barriers and ensuring that high-quality care is available to everyone, regardless of postcode. By taking services into underserved communities, we can help reduce avoidable travel, improve early intervention, and create fairer health outcomes.

EMS Healthcare is proud to play a part in this mission by delivering adaptable community-based facilities that remove access barriers and reach patients who might otherwise go without care.

Taking Research into Communities

Clinical research has traditionally been centred in large hospitals or academic institutions, limiting participation to certain groups. The NHS 10-Year Plan seeks to broaden research to community settings, so studies reflect the needs and experiences of more patients and treatments can be tailored more effectively.

Community-based clinical research facilities, like those provided by EMS Healthcare, can make trials more accessible, encourage participation, and deliver valuable insights about how new treatments work in real-world settings. This is a vital step to achieving more inclusive, impactful, and equitable innovation in healthcare.

Raising Awareness, Health Education, and Vaccinations

Prevention is central to the NHS’s long-term vision. By focusing on health education, raising awareness of preventable diseases, and expanding vaccination programmes, the NHS aims to reduce the incidence of illness and ease future demand on hospital services. This proactive approach is crucial to building healthier communities and reducing avoidable emergency admissions.

Poor health is already holding back economic growth essential to supporting the NHS and other public services. Since 2020, economic inactivity due to sickness has risen by half a million, with health-related worklessness heavily concentrated in disadvantaged areas.

The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates each person inactive for health reasons results in around £5,000 less tax revenue annually and costs the NHS between £900 and £1,800 extra per year. Over 80% of those inactive for health reasons receive incapacity benefits, driving up health-related welfare spending.

Prevention is key to reversing these trends, with around 70% of cardiovascular disease, 40% of cancers, and 40% of dementia considered preventable - offering huge potential to keep people healthier, longer, and economically active.

By facilitating outreach and education into communities identified as high risk, deprived or underserved, the NHS can make prevention practical, visible, and accessible within populations that need it most.

Supporting Neighbourhood Care Teams

The 10-Year Plan introduces integrated neighbourhood health teams, bringing GPs, nurses, therapists, social care, and other specialists together under one roof. This coordinated, joined-up model recognises that many patients have complex, overlapping needs that require a holistic approach.

EMS Healthcare’s flexible facilities can help these teams deliver seamless, patient-centred care closer to home, supporting the NHS vision of a truly community-based model.

Sarka Oldham, Chief Commercial Officer at EMS Healthcare, commented:

“I’m especially encouraged by the plan’s commitment to reducing health inequalities, expanding NHS services in deprived areas, and delivering flexible, adaptable care directly to underserved communities. Another promising area is the expansion of research into community settings. By broadening clinical studies beyond traditional environments, we can help ensure treatments reflect the needs and experiences of all patients - an essential step toward fairer and more inclusive healthcare innovation."

Partnering for the Future

The NHS 10-Year Health Plan is a bold blueprint for a modern, equitable, patient-focused system. At EMS Healthcare, we stand ready to help make this vision a reality, providing rapid, scalable, community-based facilities that enable local prevention, widen research participation, reduce inequalities, and support integrated neighbourhood teams.

Together, we can build a healthier, more resilient future - where good health is within everyone’s reach.