Neighbourhood Health Services at the heart of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s 10-Year strategy
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has today unveiled its new strategy for 2025–2035, setting out a transformative vision to help people live healthier and more independent lives. The strategy launch coincides with the Government’s newly announced Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, which aims to bring NHS services closer to home through the creation of Neighbourhood Health Services across the country.
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, launched today by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, outlines a shift in NHS delivery: moving care from hospitals into communities, embracing digital innovation, and focusing on prevention. Neighbourhood Health Services will bring diagnostics, mental health, rehabilitation, and nursing care directly to people’s doorsteps, with new health centres open evenings and weekends.
The Trust strategy echoes this national ambition. As an integrated acute and community trust, it is uniquely positioned to deliver seamless care across hospitals, homes, and community settings. The Trust’s new strategy commits to:
- Establishing Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs) that bring together hospital, community, mental health, GP, council, and voluntary services to deliver proactive, personalised care.
- Expanding community diagnostic services and digital tools to improve access and reduce waiting times.
- Prioritising prevention and early intervention, including health coaching, screening, and support for healthy behaviours.
- Tackling health inequalities by focusing resources on the most deprived communities in Buckinghamshire.
At the heart of the Trust’s 10-year strategy is a commitment to reduce the gap in life expectancy and health outcomes between the most and least deprived areas of Buckinghamshire. Currently, residents in some parts of Aylesbury live up to 12 years less than those in Marlow. The Trust aims to close this gap by addressing the wider determinants of health—such as housing, education, and employment—by working closely with health and social care partners and the voluntary sector across the county.
Neil Macdonald, Chief Executive Officer for the Trust said: “Our aim is to help people live healthier and more independent lives by working closely with our partners and communities. We want to make sure everyone has fair access to care, a good experience, and the best possible outcomes, no matter who they are or where they live.”
Read the Trust strategy for 2025-2035.