A new year has dawned on an NHS which is rarely out of the headlines. But what are the key issues facing the health service in our region? Health correspondent Nicholas Carding explains what to expect in 2017.
A brief glimpse into the future can fill many NHS chiefs with dread.
If changes to the way our NHS works are not made then the health service in East Anglia is faced with a catastrophic increase in demand and a devastating worsening of public health in the next decade.
But chiefs hope to deal with this through their ‘Sustainability and Transformation Plan’ – the details of which should become clearer this year.
Despite its boring name, the plan (or STP as it is known) should be at the root of virtually every health decision made in 2017 – regardless of the organisation making it.
Critics believe the STP are secret NHS plans to cut services, but in our region it is too early to tell. Hopefully 2017 will give us a better idea.
Full story at Eastern Daily press 10 January 2017