Why Personalised Care Must Be at the Heart of the New 10-Year Plans for Neighbourhood Health Services
Policymakers have a long history of producing long-term plans for the NHS, and none of the ideas in the 10-year plan are entirely new. What really matters is implementation and focusing on the basics.
The NHS’s renewed 10-year ambitions signal a shift in how health and care services are to be delivered. Instead of a centralised, top-down approach, there is a growing focus on neighbourhood-level health services. These are teams rooted in local communities, designed to bring care closer to where people live and to respond more flexibly to population needs.
At the core of neighbourhood health services must be a commitment to personalised care, a model that recognises people as partners in their own health, not passive recipients of treatment.
Why personalised care matters
Personalised care is more than a policy term. It is about shifting relationships between people and professionals, placing what matters most to individuals at the centre of decision-making. This means:
Shared decision-making: ensuring that people understand their options and can shape treatment or support that fits with their values and circumstances.
Care coordination: reducing fragmentation, making sure people do not have to repeat their story multiple times, and ensuring their journey through health and care feels seamless.
Community-based support: linking individuals not only to clinical services but also to social, emotional, and practical support within their communities.
Proactive planning: anticipating needs before they escalate, supporting prevention, and building resilience.
This approach is vital in neighbourhood services because local teams will be working with people whose needs often extend far beyond clinical care. Many will be managing long-term conditions, facing social challenges, or juggling complex family responsibilities.
Neighbourhood health services as enablers
The 10-year plans describe neighbourhood health services as multi-disciplinary teams of GPs, nurses, care coordinators, social prescribers, mental health workers, and voluntary sector partners working together. Personalised care is the element that can hold this vision together.
Without a personalised approach, neighbourhood teams risk becoming just another layer of bureaucracy. With personalised care, they can:
Respond to local priorities by tailoring interventions to the unique challenges of each community.
Build trust and engagement, as people are more likely to use services that feel relevant to their lives.
Reduce pressure on hospitals by addressing issues early and supporting people in the community.
Tackle inequalities by focusing on those at greatest risk of poor health outcomes and designing care around their lived experience.
Embedding personalised care in practice
Neighbourhood health services can make personalised care a daily reality by focusing on several strategies:
Investing in training
Staff at every level, from doctors to receptionists, need the skills and confidence to work in a personalised way. This includes communication skills, shared decision-making, and understanding the broader determinants of health.
Workforce roles designed for coordination
Care coordinators and social prescribing link workers are central to ensuring people experience joined-up support. These roles need recognition, development, and proper resourcing.
Digital tools that empower, not exclude
Technology can support care planning, record sharing, and patient engagement, but only if designed inclusively and with attention to digital literacy.
Community partnerships
Neighbourhood teams should collaborate with voluntary, community, and faith groups. These organisations often hold the key to tackling loneliness, improving wellbeing, and connecting people with practical help.
Co-production with patients and citizens
Planning services with the people who use them, rather than for them, ensures that priorities reflect real community needs.
Looking forward
The 10-year plans offer an opportunity to reimagine how health and care are delivered in England. Organisational restructuring alone will not change outcomes. Embedding personalised care at the centre of neighbourhood health services ensures that change is not just structural but cultural.
When care is personalised, people feel seen, heard, and supported as individuals. Services become more effective because resources are aligned with what really makes a difference. Communities themselves become stronger, as health is no longer something delivered from above but built in partnership from the ground up.
The future of neighbourhood health services must be more than bringing care closer to people’s homes. It must also be about bringing care closer to people’s lives. Personalised care is how that vision becomes real.