The ‘big idea' in the Plan is the creation of a Neighbourhood Health Services that will bring healthcare to patients' doorsteps. 

Neighbourhood teams, including nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, palliative care staff and paramedics will be housed in health centres for six days a week and 12 hours a day to bring hospital-based services to the community. The ultimate goal is to make healthcare in the community and not the hospital the default option by 2035. 

The ambitious shift in direction from hospital to community is much welcome and poses the potential of bringing an end to the doom loop of spiralling pressures on acute hospital services. 

In launching the Plan, however, Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged ‘this is not an overnight fix'. And therein lies the problem. 

The protracted social care review, which has also been given a 10-year time frame, means progress here will also be slow. 

With public satisfaction in the NHS at an all-time low, whether there is the patience needed for this transformational change to come to pass remains very much open to question.