Across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight work is already underway to deliver progress towards the Government's 10-Year Health Plan for England, such as through one-stop-shop local health centres and the introduction of Dora, an artificial intelligent telephone assistant helping to bring down waits for cataract surgery.
This local work supports a bold, ambitious, and necessary new course for the NHS so that the NHS is guaranteed to be there for all who need it for generations to come.
The 10-year health plan has been shaped by the experiences and expectations of members of the public, patients, partners and the health and care workforce across the country, reflecting the changes that people wanted to see.
Dr Lara Alloway, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Hampshire and the Isle of Wight said: “We support the NHS 10-year plan and hope that our residents will also see the benefits that it aims to bring to local care across all our communities.
“The plan emphasises prevention, digital innovation, and personalised care to ensure the NHS remains effective for future generations and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight is integral to implementing the plan locally.
“From Integrated Neighbourhood hubs in Portsmouth and Southampton, to virtual wards and a programme to help identify patients with chronic kidney disease, we are already working on a number of projects across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight that support the aims of the 10-year plan. We will continue to be ambitious and build on our work to date to ensure the local NHS is fit for the future.”
The 10-year plan and the ‘three shifts’
Through the 'three shifts' which are – from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention – care will become more personalised, give more power to patients, and ensure that the best of the NHS is available to all.
Examples of a number of projects currently running across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to ensure the local NHS is fit for the future are below:
Shift one: From hospital to community
1. Care closer to home
At Southampton's Shirley Health Centre - housed in a former Lidl supermarket - more than 15,000 patients access a comprehensive range of services under one roof. The centre brings together GPs, mental health professionals, health coaches, social prescribers, midwives from University Hospital Southampton, and mental health practitioners from the Steps2Wellbeing service.
James Roach, Director of Primary Care and Local Care at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said: “Having all these services in one place is hugely beneficial for the patients that we serve and we are committed to improving how patients access primary care. Our GPs are seeing more patients than ever, and we now have multi-professional teams working in practices to provide specialist care for those who need it."
2. Integrated Neighbourhood working
Integrated Neighbourhood Working Hubs have been running for a while now. A great example of this is in Southampton where there are hubs in four locations across the city. These Hubs involve working with a range of voluntary, community and statutory organisations to deliver further opportunities for people in local communities to engage.
3. It takes a team – more professionals to treat you at your GP practice
Local people across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are now able to book more appointments with different healthcare professionals at GP practices, meaning they can be seen quicker and cared for in the best possible way.
GP practices across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, carry out hundreds of thousands of appointments every month and more patients than ever are accessing appointments.
Not all these appointments though are made with a GP, as there is a team of healthcare professionals working in each practice who are specially trained to help you with your specific health concern. Within a GP practice you will find mental health practitioners, paramedics, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians and many more. When you contact your practice, you may be offered an appointment with one of these specialists if they are best placed to help you on your road to recovery.
James Roach, Director of Primary and Local Care at NHS Hampshire and the Isle of Wight said: “Across Hampshire and Isle of Wight, we delivered almost 700,000 extra appointments in 2024 compared to the year before. That’s a huge increase year on year.”
“We also have a wide range of specialists working in general practice. Specialists can often offer more relevant advice and support for example, a dietician can offer ongoing nutritional help to manage a health condition, or a physiotherapist can help with rehabilitation after an arm injury.”
Shift two: From treatment to prevention
1. Vaccination programmes
More than 175,000 residents across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were vaccinated against COVID-19 this spring and we continue to promote the benefits of getting vaccinated against illnesses such as flu, whooping cough and RSV that can make people extremely poorly. The 2025 spring programme in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight had the highest level of uptake in the South-East and the third highest for population uptake across the country.
Dr Michelle Legg, a local GP and Clinical Lead for the Covid Vaccination Programme at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight said: “This phenomenal achievement could not have happened without a huge amount of hard work and collaboration between Primary Care Networks, community pharmacies and the COVID-19 vaccination programme team.
“I would like to thank all the teams across our system who have taken part in the campaign, which has led to the high levels of vaccination rates across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. This will ultimately keep people and communities safe and healthy.”
2. Chronic Kidney Disease programme
NHS Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is working in partnership with a pharmaceutical company to help identify patients who may be at risk of Chronic Kidney Disease. The aim of the programme is to diagnose patients earlier to prevent long-term hospital treatment in the future.
Dr Charlotte Hutchings, Local GP and Clinical Director at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said: “Early detection of chronic kidney disease is crucial in preventing serious complications, including kidney failure. This collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim allows us to reach communities that are at increased risk, ensuring that more people receive the screening and care they need before their condition worsens.”
3. A joint approach to frailty
Recently colleagues from across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight came together to discuss a joint approach to frailty. Teams from primary care, local authorities, hospitals, academia, community care and the voluntary sector all brought their unique perspective and ideas to help us rise to the challenge of how we help people to live longer, healthier lives.
Shift three: From analogue to digital
1. AI intelligence
Thanks to the help of Dora, an artificial intelligent telephone assistant, average waiting times for low complexity cataract surgery for patients in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has reduced from 35 weeks at the beginning of January 2024, to 10 weeks or less.
Dora calls patients waiting for cataract surgery, speaks to them in a natural voice and gathers medical history. Dora is also capable of offering patients a choice of treatment locations based on waiting times and distance from their home.
Mr Aris Konstantopoulos, consultant ophthalmologist at University Hospital Southampton and Ophthalmology Clinical Lead for NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight said: “All hospitals in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have made massive strides in reducing the waits for cataract surgery in the area. Dora has enabled this by allowing us to develop a single point of access for referrals, reducing the burden of admin processes and providing clear options to patients. Using Dora has also allowed us to free-up time for our nursing teams to concentrate on more surgical work while Dora makes the phone calls and completes the administration duty.
"We have had some great feedback from patients who have said that Dora is very clear and easy to understand. She also engages and interacts with patients and can understand what they are saying and asking.”
2. Virtual Wards
Virtual wards provide hospital level care and remote monitoring in a patient’s home. They allow the patient to either to stay at home - receiving care at home - or after being in hospital to continue treatment at home, where they are most comfortable.
Across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight we currently have 13 virtual wards that cover a range of conditions from strokes to frailty to respiratory conditions. We treat hundreds of patients on our virtual wards every week.
3. Supporting people with the NHS app
We are supporting people locally to make the most out of the NHS app and have a number of digital care coordinators working within our primary care teams to help those who are digitally excluded.
Dr Tom Bertram, local GP and Clinical Director for Primary and Local Care at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight said: “I would encourage everyone to download and use the NHS App as it is a brilliant resource that allows patients to take control of their healthcare.
“GPs are busier than ever and are seeing more and more patients, so if patients can use the app to manage appointments, check test results and order repeat prescriptions it really helps us to free up time to see those who need urgent appointments.”
You can read the plan on the Government's website.