Forum Central Position Statement: NHS 10-Year Health Plan for England

Issue: The NHS 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, provides a roadmap for transforming healthcare in England. It is a health plan, but designed to help tackle the serious challenges the NHS is facing, as highlighted by the Darzi report, and to make sure the NHS can continue to serve future generations.

The plan promotes the use of new technologies, medicines, and innovations in order to deliver better care for all people wherever they live and whatever they earn, providing better value for taxpayers. The Neighbourhood Health model is at the heart of the plan. 

Key elements of the NHS Plan are: 

• • A shift from hospital to community: Establishment of Neighbourhood Health Centres and integrated care teams to deliver local, personalised services.
  • A shift from analogue to digital: Expansion of the NHS App, Single Patient Record, and AI-powered tools to improve access, choice, and care coordination. 
  • A shift from sickness to prevention: Investment in mental health services, obesity reduction, smoking cessation, and genomics to address health inequalities and improve population health.

• A devolved and diverse NHS: De-centralisation of control, with power devolved to places (in our case Leeds), providers and patients. 

• A focus on transparency and quality of care: Publication of ‘easy-to-understand’ league tables, ranking providers against key quality indicators; allowing patients to search and choose providers; reform of the complaints process; reform of the CQC towards a more data-led regulatory model.

• An NHS workforce, fit for the future: With fewer staff than has been projected, it is proposed that staff will be able to access stronger training and development activities, including personalised career coaching and access to AI support.
• Powering transformation: Investment in five transformative technologies – data, AI, genomics, wearables and robotics, aiming to personalise care, improve outcomes, increase productivity and boost economic growth.
• Financial sustainability: Underpinning all of this work is a drive for greater ‘productivity’ and longer-term sustainability.

Our Position: 

The NHS 10-Year Health Plan provides a valuable opportunity to embed the Third Sector into health and care systems across Leeds and West Yorkshire. Its focus on local decision-making, neighbourhood-based care, and a shift from treating illness to preventing it aligns closely with the strengths of the Third Sector in Leeds.

Forum Central welcomes the plan’s ambitions and urges local leaders to accelerate collaborative work (e.g. Local Care Partnerships, Leeds Community Anchor Network and Community Mental Health Transformation) to ensure the Third Sector is recognised as a core delivery partner in current and future working. 

However, we are concerned about:

• The lack of explicit reference to the Third Sector as a partner in Health and Care, the holistic, person-centred support we offer to diverse communities, including carers. 
• The limited attention given to the current inequity of experience & support faced in our communities, 
• The economic, social and institutional barriers communities face when seeking support.

Furthermore, we are concerned about our system’s ability to deliver core goals given the current financial pressures and the dominant medical model culture within the health and care system.

To realise the plan’s potential, we must:

• Invest in those who are best placed to design and deliver services.
• Support the Third Sector workforce through an inclusive organisational development (OD) model.
• Address barriers to data access and sharing, enabling better integration of population health management and people’s voices in transformative work.
• Build on existing community relationships and strengths to deliver person-centred, preventative care.
• Embed the values of the 3Cs (Communication, Coordination and Compassion) in all that we do. 

Rationale:

Our position on the 10 Year plan has been formed through the following reasoning: 

• A Permissive Framework for Local Empowerment: The NHS 10 Year Health Plan explicitly commits to “putting power back in the hands of people and professionals” to make decisions about their own care and local services. This devolution of authority creates a permissive policy environment where local systems like Leeds and West Yorkshire can embed the Third Sector as core partners in health and care delivery.
• Neighbourhood-Centred Health Delivery: The plan introduces a Neighbourhood Health Service, with a commitment to “a health centre in every community” and a shift in NHS expenditure from hospitals to community settings. This aligns directly with the strengths of the Third Sector, which is deeply embedded in neighbourhoods and well-positioned to deliver place-based, person-centred care.
• Shift from Treatment to Prevention: The plan prioritises prevention over treatment, aiming to “catch illness before it spreads and prevent it in the first place” Third Sector organisations in Leeds already lead on social prescribing, mental health support, and tackling social determinants of health, making them natural partners in this preventative agenda.
• Lack of Explicit Reference to the Third Sector: Despite the alignment in values and delivery models, the plan does not explicitly reference the Third Sector as a core strategic partner. This omission risks undervaluing the sector’s contribution and missing opportunities for collaborative working and co-production with communities.
• Financial Constraints: The plan acknowledges the need for financial sustainability, but there is concern that tight budgets may limit investment in the Third Sector, despite evidence of its cost-effectiveness in delivering community-based, preventative care.

Actions Forum Central will be taking:

As part of our core offer to the sector, Forum Central commits to continue to: 

• Engage with the Leeds and West Yorkshire Health and Care Partners to align Third Sector priorities to core objectives within the 10 Year health plan.
• Facilitate dialogue between Third Sector organisations, NHS colleagues, and local authorities through the Reps Reference Group, Health and Care Leaders Network and bespoke brokerage.
• Advocate for inclusive, equitable, and community-led transformation through investment in the Third Sector.
• Monitor the implementation of core 10 Year health plan objectives through the lens of Third Sector priorities, and report findings in an inclusive and accessible way.  

Call to Action:

We ask system leaders, commissioners funders to:

• Align National and Local Priorities: Translate the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Plan into clear, resourced local objectives that recognise and invest in the proven impact of the Third Sector, promoting longer-term sustainability of the sector and partnership working with system partners. 
• Strengthen the Third Sector’s Role in Prevention Health: Commission long-term, collaborative programmes that enable Third Sector organisations to lead on prevention, tackle health inequalities, and promote mental wellbeing.
• Enable the development of Asset-based Neighbourhood Health Centres:
  Involve Third Sector anchor organisations in the design and delivery of new local health hubs, recognising their deep community connections.
• Embed Social Prescribing and Care Navigation: Secure the Third Sector’s role in multidisciplinary teams, building on its strong track record in social prescribing and community connection.
• Invest in Digital, but always have a non-digital option:  Partner with the Third Sector to support people who are digitally excluded, while ensuring all digital health services are person-centred and meet the Accessible Information Standard.
• Support Local Decision-Making and Co-Design: Work closely with Third Sector infrastructure bodies to co-design services and commission in ways that reflect community needs and strengths.
• Invest in Workforce Development: Collaborate with the Third Sector to recruit, train, and host new community-based roles—especially from underrepresented groups—through inclusive organisational development models.
• Improve Data Access and Integration: Remove barriers to data sharing and access, enabling the Third Sector to contribute fully to integrated care and population health management. 

For more information, contact Forum Central hello@forumcentral.org.uk.