A ’neighbourhood health service’ has been on the cards for the NHS since the term was introduced in Labour’s election manifesto last year. But what does this actually mean?
The government’s 10-year plan, published in July 2025, describes neighbourhood health centres that bring multidisciplinary teams together under one roof; providing typically hospital based services such as diagnostics and post-operative care – but also services such as debt advice and employment support; alongside smoking cessation and weight management services.
Wes Streeting announced that their “10-year health plan will turn the NHS on its head, delivering one of the most fundamental changes in the way we receive our healthcare in history.’
This all sounds very grand. However. They don’t sound too different to the Darzi centres set up by the last Labour government which were scrapped in 2011 leaving some Primary Care Trusts (PCTs, a now defunct NHS admin body) with financial shortfalls of up to £300,000 per year.
Darzi polyclinics were introduced in 2009 to offer a greater range of services than were offered by GP practices, such as urgent care, healthy living, community mental health and social care, to be more accessible than hospitals. Are we reinventing the (very flat) wheel here?
As seasoned GP Dr Steve Taylor says, we already have over 6000 neighbourhood health centres in England – they’re called GP Practices. The majority of care most people receive is already delivered in the community. 1.45 million people consult GP practices every day – which amounts to half the population every month.
Over the last ten years, GP practices have lost 20% real terms funding – and if they hadn’t, they would be in a much stronger position to provide even better care.
It is concerning that the ’10 year neighbourhood plans’ barely mention GPs, but GPs are the key to sorting out the NHS.
As Lord Darzi identified in his report last year, general practice has the best financial discipline in the health service family. So, instead of looking to create new and unproved methods of structuring our NHS, let’s look to general practice and what it is already doing.
Hence MyHSN thinks the NHS should invest in the infrastructure and teams we already have up and running in the community. If general practice fails, the NHS fails, so let us invest in what we already have.
Dr Ellen Welch. Cumbria-based GP and Co-Chair of the Doctors’ Association UK
