HFMA summer conference: transformation key to recovery

The NHS England chief operating officer and NHS Improvement chief executive said the service must avoid ‘going back to the old ways’ and should embrace transformation, including beneficial changes that were adopted during the pandemic.

‘It’s not about going back to what we did before – it’s about the next phase of transformation for the NHS,’ she told the virtual conference, which runs until 25 June.

‘I don’t think we can afford not to transform,’ she said. ‘I don’t think we could afford to deliver our response to Covid and the challenges presented by Covid with more of the same.’

Ms Pritchard (pictured) said the NHS had to examine where it could introduce new ways of working and use some of the skills gained during the pandemic. The opportunities fell into five categories:

• People – support for the workforce should be at the centre of NHS organisations’ plans, including measures to recruit and train staff, ensure their wellbeing, tackle discrimination, and use their skills and experience.
• Restoring activity – services were already approaching pre-pandemic activity (electives) and others were at or above those levels (primary and cancer care), but there were opportunities to ‘supercharge’ recovery by transforming at pace.
• Partnerships – integrated care systems could be key to speeding up transformation by bringing partners together and driving a ‘left shift’ to prevention and tackling health inequalities.
• Digitally enabled transformation – beneficial changes adopted during the pandemic must become the new way of working. These changes include video consultations and home oximetry.
• Health inequalities and prevention – Covid had ‘shone a harsh light’ on health inequalities and the NHS had to ‘use the lens of inequalities to underpin everything we do’, she said. Every contact with patients must be made to count. ‘The NHS is not just a sickness service; it is a health service,’ she said. ‘There are enormous opportunities for us to get upstream and deliver that left shift. People are excited about what the future holds.’

The service is waiting for an announcement on funding and the financial regime for the second six months of 2021/22. Ms Pritchard said the centre was keen to ensure financial stability in the second half of the financial year. ‘Living from half year to half year to half year is creating some level of uncertainty, which is not ideal,’ she added.