The NHS five year forward view – instigated by the NHS England chief executive to set out the prospects for the service in the run-up to the general election - will be published on Thursday.

It is expected it will indicate the approach and policies which those leading the service believe are needed to make the NHS sustainable.

Simon Stevens decided the report should be drawn up after taking up the post in April and NHS England has since worked with national health bodies and other NHS leaders to draw it up.

The report is also expected to give a new estimate of the scale of the NHS funding shortfall in coming years - potentially putting political leaders on the spot to address this or consider the consequences on care standards.

hsj.co.uk will cover the forward view in detail on Thursday including comprehensive analysis of what it will mean, and comment and reaction.

The forward view, published by NHS England along with Monitor and other national health bodies, is expected to set a direction for the service on:

  • The size of the financial gap facing the NHS until 2020-21, reviewing the £30bn figure published by NHS England last year.
  • The potential consequences of continued curbs on NHS healthcare funding, and for longer-term financial settlements for the service.
  • New models of delivering care, such as hospitals running general practice services, and GPs forming primary care based multispecialty provider groups, and how different models could apply in different areas of the country.
  • How NHS incentives and rules may change to support new models, such as the role of competition or linking income more closely to care quality.
  • How some areas could go faster in experimenting with new models, and might be helped to work around system rules which could be preventing them.
  • Future approaches to commissioning, for example co-commissioning between CCGs and NHS England, links with local authorities, and personal health budgets.
  • How mental healthcare can be improved more quickly.
  • The impact of population trends and other factors on NHS demand, and how to better prevent illness.
  • The role of non-NHS factors in improving health, including changes to taxation, employers incentivising their staff, and the role of councils and regional authorities, and the role of other government departments.
  • The “hidden workforce” including individuals’ own role and carers.
  • International examples the NHS could learn from.
  • A strategy for specialised services.

For full coverage of the forward view, sign up to receive HSJ’s daily news and breaking news emails, follow our rolling news blog HSJ Live and follow the hashtag #5YFV.

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