Our response to today’s government announcement on Shaping a Healthier Future
Today, the Secretary of State for health and social care explained that the Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF) programme would be concluding and that the NHS in north west London will now focus on our response to the NHS Long Term Plan.
In particular, he noted that there would be no changes to the A&E services outlined in SaHF, including the Emergency Department at Ealing Hospital.
This reflects the recent approach developed by NHS commissioners and providers, which is explained in a letter to our stakeholders from our sustainability and transformation partnership leads.
The Shaping a Healthier Future programme has achieved a great deal over the last seven years, with real improvements for our local communities in delivering seamless, end to end care, and helping patients access more care without needing to be admitted to hospital.
But as the needs of our communities have changed, the way we provide care has developed, as it must continue to do. We therefore recognise that putting the Long Term Plan into action in north west London will still need us to make significant changes in the way we work, so that we can continue to offer our patients high quality, sustainable care.
This represents a true opportunity for us to look again at the challenges that face us and how we plan to respond to them in partnership with staff, patients, and our colleagues across health and social care.