NHS Long Term Plan Campaign

The additional £20.5 billion a year by 2023/24 promised to the NHS earlier this year demonstrates that health is the government's top spending priority. A sustained and targeted communications programme is now needed to build public awareness and show how the NHS's Long Term Plan (LTP) will deliver improvements for patients and good value for the taxpayer. Research consistently shows that the NHS is the most important priority that people want Government to tackle. Whilst overall experience remains positive (and the UK public are more positive about our health service than people in most other developed nations), there is growing concern about the level of funding that the NHS is receiving and the services that people are getting as a result and concern about its future. DHSC research indicates that only 13% expect that the NHS will get better over the next few years, whereas 52% think it will get worse. Public reaction to the funding settlement has been broadly positive with Autumn 2018's Budget committing the additional funding without required tax rises. This is a significant increase in the proportion of tax payers' money being devoted to the NHS. Our communications challenge is to build public confidence that the NHS has a positive long-term future - delivered through the NHS LTP. And that this plan will deliver value for money on tax payers' investment. Initially communications activity (January - Summer 2019) will focus on ensuring both the public and the 1.4 million NHS staff: - are aware of the LTP and understand its ambition; and - feel that they have a say in how their hard-earned money is spent at a local level (via participation in local engagement activities planned to support the development of local service plans); and - are aware of, support and adopt new NHS innovation/evolved services.