NHS will be ‘digital by default’ under 10 year health plan

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will launch the government’s 10 year health plan today by setting out an ambition for the NHS to be ‘digital by default’.

Under the plan, which is available in full here, the majority of outpatient care will happen outside of hospitals by 2035, by transforming care in the community. 

A press release, published by the Department of Health and Social Care on 3 July 2025, said that the status quo of ‘hospital by default’ will end, with a new preventative principle that care should be ‘digital-by-default’. 

DHSC said: “The government’s plan will bring it into the digital age, making sure staff benefit from the advantages and efficiencies available from new technology.”

It adds that tools to support GPs will be rolled out over the next two years, including new digital tools to allow quicker referrals and AI scribes, which will “end the need for clinical note taking, letter drafting, and manual data entry to free up clinicians’ time”.

The government will also use digital telephony so that phone calls to GP practices are answered quickly and people can get same day digital or telephone consultations if needed. 

Starmer will also announce the launch of a Neighbourhood Health Service, which will allow patients to be cared for closer to their homes.

“Our 10 year health plan will fundamentally rewire and future-proof our NHS so that it puts care on people’s doorsteps, harnesses game-changing tech and prevents illness in the first place.

“That means giving everyone access to GPs, nurses, and wider support all under one roof in their neighbourhood – rebalancing our health system so that it fits around patients’ lives, not the other way round,” Starmer said.

The neighbourhood teams will be housed in new health centres, which are planned to eventually open 12 hours a day, six days a week.

They are planned to bring together historically hospital-based services such as diagnostics, post-operative care, and rehab into the community, along with services like debt advice, employment support and stop smoking or weight management.

Wes Streeting, health secretary, said: “Our 10 year health plan will turn the NHS on its head, delivering one of the most fundamental changes in the way we receive our healthcare in history.

“By shifting from hospital to community, we will finally bring down devastating hospital waiting lists and stop patients going from pillar to post to get treated.”

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said that the plan could be a “gamechanger” for the NHS and is “a win for patients who will be better informed and empowered to direct their care as never before”.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, welcomed the plan as “a vital step towards a more preventative, community-based NHS”.

He added that delivering on the government’s ambition will require “sustained investment in digital and estates, support for the NHS’s workforce, and a commitment to decentralise national control by empowering local leaders to do what is best for their populations”. 

The plan follows an extra £10bn commitment to NHS IT and other announcements including  innovator passports to roll out technology faster, updates to the NHS App and an AI system to identify unsafe care.