NHS England lays out strategic plan for next five years

A new five-year plan has been outlined by NHS England that calls for key improvements to be made to healthcare provision in the next half-decade.

The document calls for action to be taken on four fronts – tackling the root causes of ill health, giving patients more control over their own care, meeting the needs of an ageing population and creating innovative new models of care.

Action will also need to be taken on demand, efficiency and funding, with staged financial increases closing a £30 billion funding gap by 2020/21, if the growth of the UK economy allows.

Potential innovations include mergers between GP practices, investing in local hospital care, concentrating services into specialist centres and finding new ways of providing out-of-hospital treatment.

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said: "The NHS continues to be highly valued by the British people. But what's great about the NHS cannot disguise what needs to change in the NHS."

The need for additional NHS reforms have been a key discussion topic in recent months, due to rising patient demand and the growing prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes, dementia and obesity.