As a qualified GP, it was really positive to see such support for patient-centred, coordinated care at ConfedExpo2025 and to realise how the CHP LIFT estate can have a key role in delivery of this Government-led direction of travel.
Lord Victor Adebowale CBE (Chair of NHS Confederation) opened the conference, and he was joined by Dr Penny Dash (Chair of NHS England) to discuss how we can work together to achieve more integration and improved partnership working between health, local government, social care and the voluntary sector. The key message was that we need a fundamental shift in thinking with a renewed focus on prevention, the left shift of services into e community, and addressing inequalities if we are to develop a truly inclusive health service.
I joined the session covering “The future of primary care: in conversation with Dr Amanda Doyle and Dr Claire Fuller”, which was both informative and enlightening. Dr Amanda Doyle (National Director for Primary Care and Community Service, NHS England) and Dr Claire Fuller (Primary Care Medical Director, NHS England) were enthusiastic about the future of primary care in England, stressing that the term primary care should be used to describe primary care in its entirety, encompassing general practice, community pharmacies, dentists and eye care (optometry). Primary care should focus on providing routine healthcare, managing long-term conditions, and promoting preventative care.
The future looks positive, but it will be different. Simply providing more of the same will not suffice in an ever-changing environment.
We need to work more collaboratively across ICSs, places and neighbourhoods, and plan proactively instead of responding reactively. Service commissioning will be more likely to occur on a larger scale, we should innovate at pace, and we must increase our use of technology (including AI).
The patient needs to remain at the centre of everything that we do, and there should be a return to continuity of care with less duplication and more sharing of expertise – music to my ears as I know from experience that GPs and primary care health professionals are usually the key point of contact for patients, which probably is pertinent to the interesting fact that the answer to the question “How easy is it to get an appointment?” largely determines how satisfied patients are with the NHS.
A key driver for success will be the left shift of services into the community, with primary care well placed to navigate the wider health and social care system, enabling better access and outcomes to be achieved for all. As CHP Regional Director for the North East, working with senior clinical, estates, finance and other decision-makers to put the principles of neighbourhood-based care into practice, I can clearly see the critical role of our high-quality estate in delivering the positive change needed to ensure that our NHS is fit for the future. There are numerous examples here in the North East (such as the Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre in Hull) and, indeed, across the country, of where CHP buildings are already enabling coordinated patient-centred care. I know there will be more.
Dr Jane Fitch, Regional Director, North East Regional Director, CHP.
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