The NHS Five-Year Forward View (5YFV)
The NHS Five-Year Forward View (5YFV)
The NHS published a new Long Term Plan in January 2019, which superseded the 5YFV.
In 2014, NHS England started working to develop a five year strategy for the NHS – the NHS Five-Year Forward View (5YFV). The document was published by NHS England, alongside the other national leadership organisations within the NHS: the Care Quality Commission; Health Education England, Monitor, Public Health England and the Trust Development Authority on 23rd October 2014.
The document set out the challenges ahead for the NHS and actions the organisations believed must be taken to tackle them. The 5YFV set out a number of changes that the health service must make, arguing for a “radical upgrade” in prevention and public health and a more engaged relationship with carers, patients and citizens. It went on to say that patients must be given more control of their own care and barriers between healthcare providers broken down.
The 5YFV also highlighted the role that pharmacies can play, saying there is a need to build the public’s understanding that pharmacies can help them to deal with minor ailments.
A number of options for new care provider models were set out, including combining general practice and hospital care into Primary and Acute Care Systems; or bringing general practice together with specialists into Multispecialty Community Providers.
The 5YFV also highlighted the key pressures on the NHS – demand, efficiency and funding; saying action must be taken on all three to sustain a comprehensive high quality NHS. It set out a number of financial scenarios for the NHS, but stated that its ambition for the NHS was for it to achieve 2% net efficiency gains each year for the rest of the decade.
PSNC response to the 5YFV
Commenting on the publication of the 5YFV, PSNC’s former Chief Executive Sue Sharpe said:
“The Five Year Forward View (5YFV) is an important milestone for all those working for and within the NHS, setting out the shifts in focus and improvements in efficiency that the service must make if it is to continue delivering high quality care to all those who need it.
“For community pharmacy the view presents a number of opportunities for service development. In particular we are very pleased to see recognition and support for the role that pharmacies can play in treating minor ailments; a national minor ailments scheme is something that PSNC has continually championed and highlighted in both its vision and response to the Call to Action earlier this year.
“The 5YFV is clear that the NHS must start to focus more on prevention; this is long overdue and we must ensure that pharmacy makes the most of opportunities to increase its offer in this area. As the most accessible healthcare locations with the most regular contact with many patients, pharmacies are also in a strong position to help the NHS to deliver a number of other key priorities set out in the 5YFV, such as moves to empower patients to care for themselves; to provide more care to patients in care homes; and to ensure patients are getting the most appropriate care at the right times.
“The view sets out a number of priorities for the NHS which could benefit pharmacies and enable them to expand their roles, such as the breaking down of barriers between healthcare professionals and moves to speed up IT developments and record sharing. But the 5YFV is also very clear that there are big challenges ahead for all those involved in the health service. It sets out a number of possible financial futures for the health service, all of which will require the NHS to deliver strong efficiencies year on year. The drives to ensure health professionals are delivering more for the same or the same for less are not going away; and, as we have warned before, community pharmacy will not be immune from these pressures.
“Overall we are pleased to see the 5YFV recognising a number of key roles that PSNC has been promoting for community pharmacy in recent years. Of course there is more that pharmacy could do to ease burdens elsewhere in the NHS and improve care for patients, including supporting people to live healthily and independently, and helping patients with conditions such as asthma to manage their own care; but the recognition of our roles and new areas of focus for the NHS do represent some significant opportunities. As ever the task now is to ensure that pharmacy capitalises on those opportunities. There are certainly challenges ahead, but the 5YFV confirms that the NHS views pharmacy as an integral part of its future plans and PSNC will continue to work to ensure that the sector makes the most of that and continues to extend its role and develop the service it can offer to patients.”
The Forward View into action: Planning for 2015/16
The Forward View into action: Planning for 2015/16 published by NHS leaders, set out the steps to be taken by national and local organisations during 2015/16 to start delivering the NHS 5YFV vision. PSNC Briefing 032/14: The Forward View into action: planning for 2015/16 (December 2014) summarises the elements of the guidance that were of most relevance to community pharmacy.
Five Year Forward View: Time to Deliver
At the NHS Confederation conference on 4th June 2015, the seven principal national health bodies published Five Year Forward View: Time to Deliver.
Time to Deliver was primarily a tool for NHS managers. It looked at the progress made to date towards delivering the 5YFV, and set out the next steps that needed to be taken to achieve the shared ambitions within.
Next steps on the Forward View
In March 2017, NHS England published Next steps on the Forward View – a document which reviewed the progress made since the launch of the 5YFV in October 2014 and set out a series of practical and realistic steps for the NHS to deliver a better, more joined-up and more responsive NHS in England.
PSNC Briefings
You can read the full 5YFV on the NHS England website
PSNC Briefing 022/17: Next steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View (April 2017)
On 31st March 2017, NHS England published Next steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View, which reviewed the progress made since the launch of the NHS Five Year Forward View (5YFV) in October 2014 and set out a series of ‘practical and realistic steps’ for the NHS to deliver a more joined-up and responsive NHS in England. This PSNC Briefing summarises the elements of the document that were of most relevance to community pharmacy teams and Local Pharmaceutical Committees.
PSNC Briefing 006/16: Delivering the Forward View: NHS planning guidance 2016/17 to 2020/21 (February 2016)
In late December 2015, the national health and care leadership bodies in England published Delivering the Forward View: NHS planning guidance 2016/17 – 2020/21. This PSNC Briefing summarises the elements of the plan which were of most relevance to community pharmacy.
PSNC Briefing 032/14: The Forward View into action: planning for 2015/16 (December 2014)
Following on from PSNC Briefing 023/14 (below), this briefing provides details on The Forward View into action: Planning for 2015/16 – guidance published by NHS leaders, which set out the steps to be taken by national and local organisations during 2015/16 to start delivering the 5YFV.
PSNC Briefing 023/14: The NHS Five Year Forward View (October 2014)
NHS England and partner organisations published the NHS Five Year Forward View (5YFV) on 23rd October 2014. This document set out the current and future financial context for the NHS, the vision of what the NHS needs to achieve over the next five years and new working models which may be implemented at a local level.
Alastair Buxton, PSNC Director of NHS Services, recorded a presentation which summarised the key points for community pharmacy in the Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View document.
The video presentation explains about the emergence of Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) and Accountable Care Systems (ACS), as well as discussing the priority areas that they will be focussing on.
| Watch our ‘Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View – implications for community pharmacy’ video here |
