On Sunday (8th December), London became the latest region to share their views on the NHS, with more than a 100 people coming forward to host the biggest ever conversation about the future of our health service.

Attendees heard from the minister for public health and prevention, Andrew Gwynn, and the chair of NHS England, Richard Meddings, who spoke to locals on their ideas about reshaping the NHS as part of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan to restore the NHS to its former glory.

London is facing its own specific health issues, such as a waiting list of more than 1.2 million in the London commissioning region, with over 34,000 of those waits being more than a year, and a waiting list of more than 194,000 at the North Central London Integrated Care Board, with over 4,000 of those being more than a year. At the end of September 2024, data highlights that over 38,000 patients waited more than 4 weeks for a GP appointment across London, with 4,600 of these being under the North Central London Integrated Care Board.

Last month the government called upon its people to visit the online platform change.nhs.uk and share their experiences, views, and ideas for all NHS professionals, patients, and the wider public to help shape its future. Having already received 1.2 million separate visits and 9,000 ideas now live, the site will be available up until spring 2025, when the new 10 Year Health Plan will be published.

This comes following the government’s announcement of its Plan for Change to help drive a decade of national renewal, which aims to tackle waiting lists and help rebuild an NHS fit for the future.

Andrew Gwynne, opening the event, said: “I want to say thank you coming here for this important event. I love the National Health Service, but it is going through the worst crisis in its history — long waits for operations, difficulties getting a GP appointment and people living longer with ill health, often with preventable illness.

“But this gives us an opportunity as the new government with a new ambition to fix our NHS as part of a decade of national renewal. And that\s what this event is about — hearing from you and understanding how we shape the NHS and how we fix it, not just for today, but for the next 10 years and beyond. So, together, we build a health service fit for the future.”

Richard Meddings, chair of NHS England, said: “NHS staff are doing an incredible job delivering record levels of care for patients, but with an ageing and growing population we know we need to do more to build an NHS fit for the future.

“We are determined to ensure that as many of our staff, patients and the public can share their best ideas for the NHS so that we can spread these innovations across the country. And today’s 10 Year Health Plan event in London has been a fantastic opportunity for us to hear from people about their experiences.

“I have been incredibly impressed by ideas we have heard today including how investing steadily behind technology can empower our staff and transform our patients’ experience. I know with continued public and staff support, we can build on this momentum and create an NHS fit for the future.

Public engagement is part of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, to be published next year, and focus on three big shifts in healthcare to optimise NHS services: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.