NHS and social care staff from across the region will come together in Sheffield today for a major deliberative event designed to shape the 10-Year Health Plan, ensuring frontline voices play a key role in the future of health and care.
Following the first event in Liverpool earlier this week, Sheffield marks the second in a series of nationwide staff listening events forming part of the biggest NHS engagement exercise in history. These events bring together frontline NHS staff from a wide range of roles, care settings and communities to discuss the challenges facing the health service and explore the changes needed to ensure the NHS is fit for the future.
The event, hosted at Victoria Hall, Sheffield, will gather staff across the breadth of the NHS workforce, as well as social care and public health staff, to discuss key topics, including the role of technology in healthcare, workforce experience, and the barriers and enablers to achieving meaningful change. The insights gathered will directly inform the long-term transformation of the NHS.
Health Minister Baroness Merron said: “We can only build a health service fit for the future if we work hand-in-hand with NHS staff. By listening to their views and experiences, we can take the very best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS as we deliver our 10 Year Health Plan.
“While the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten. I urge everyone across Yorkshire to join the national conversation by sharing their story on change.nhs.uk to help us transform it.”
David Purdue, NHS England Regional Chief Nurse, said: “This is a unique opportunity for NHS staff to have a real say in shaping the future of health and care. Their perspectives will be invaluable in identifying what needs to change to make the NHS fit for the future.”
Ahead of the Sheffield event, senior NHS leaders will visit the Barnsley Glassworks NHS Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) – an example of how care is shifting from hospitals into the community. By offering vital screening and diagnostic services in a convenient town centre location, the CDC helps to ease pressure on hospitals and bring essential care closer to where people live and work.
Over the coming weeks, further events will take place across the country, with upcoming dates in Sutton Coldfield, London, Reading, Peterborough and Taunton. Alongside these in-person discussions, NHS England continues to gather input via the Change NHS platform, where staff and the public can share their experiences and ideas.
There is still time to contribute ideas and experiences to help shape the NHS. Visit change.nhs.uk or use the NHS App to join the conversation. The platform has already received 1.5 million visits, with over 11,000 ideas submitted so far