Building a better, healthier Blackpool with a 10-Year NHS Plan
Today, the government’s announced its 10-year plan to get our NHS back on its feet.
After years of sticking plasters and short-term fixes, we’ve finally got a proper plan to sort out the mess and build a health service that works for everyone. And for towns like Blackpool, where health problems hit harder, this plan is a game-changer.
Health care in the community
The heart of this plan is simple – bringing care closer to home. That means setting up Neighbourhood Health Centres – proper local hubs where you can get help for everything from a bad knee to your mental health all under one roof.
These centres will be open at least 12 hours a day, six days a week, and they’ll be up and running first in areas like Blackpool where healthy life expectancy is lowest.
Instead of being sent all over for different appointments, you’ll have a joined-up team of GPs, mental health workers, physios and social care workers working together for you. And more of that care will come to your doorstep.
Pharmacists will take on more responsibility too, especially for long-term health conditions. By 2027 anyone with complex health needs will have a personalised care plan, helping them stay in control.
Mental health taken seriously
Mental health’s been left on the sidelines for too long – that stops now.
We’re putting £120 million into creating proper mental health emergency departments so if someone’s in crisis, they’ll get specialist help that same day.
And for our kids and teens, there’ll be more mental health support in schools and colleges, backed by new Young Futures Hubs to give them somewhere to turn before problems get out of hand.
Sorting out NHS dentistry
Getting an NHS dentist in Blackpool is impossible.
This plan includes reforming the dental contract to make it work for dentists and patients. Dentists trained on the NHS will be expected to give back and we’ll put children’s oral health at the top of the list.
A smarter NHS
By 2028, the NHS App will be the go-to for non-urgent care. You’ll be able to:
Get quick GP advice
Book specialists
Manage prescriptions and vaccines
Track long-term conditions
Upload your health data and get support tailored to you
For the staff, there’ll be smarter tech and less paperwork – freeing up time to care for patients, not chase forms.
Prevention is key
We can’t just treat illness – we’ve got to stop it before it develops. That’s why prevention is at the core of this plan.
We’re cracking down on the stuff that makes people ill in the first place:
Banning vapes and smoking for future generations
Tackling childhood obesity with tighter rules on junk food and energy drinks
Improving food labelling and holding big companies to account
Giving more families access to free school meals and Healthy Start support
Setting up a new health reward scheme to encourage healthier living
Rolling out a national genomics programme to tackle illness before it starts
What this means for Blackpool
Blackpool isn’t an afterthought in this plan – we’re right at the heart of it and individually named.
We’ve got the lowest healthy life expectancy in the country
Wages are 16% lower than the national average
Alcohol-related hospital visits are some of the highest in England
Over a third of our kids grow up in poverty
We’ve got the second highest number of children in care
Housing, jobs, education, and poverty are what drive health problems. If we’re serious about fixing the NHS, we’ve got to fix these too.
We’ve already seen proof this approach works. In Derby, where a neighbourhood health approach was trialled, the local health team helped avoid over 2,000 ambulance callouts and more than 1,000 hospital stays for older people in just a year.
It’s better for the budget too – every £100 we spend in the community saves £131 in hospital costs. That’s money we can put back into the frontline.
This plan’s bold and ambitious but now we need to put it into practice. I’ll be advocating for Blackpool to make sure this plan turns into real change people can feel.
