THE NHS in Devon and Plymouth has set out how the local healthcare community will meet its part of a national challenge for the NHS to deal with rising patient demand on services.

With more people living longer, and with more complex conditions, it is estimated that if no action is taken to change the way some NHS services are run the demand could cost £30 billion nationally.

In Devon and Plymouth if nothing is done to manage the expected additional demand it could cost the local health economy almost £430 million over five years.

Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW Devon CCG) is the largest CCG geographically in the country. The age profile here today, with its high proportion of retired people, will not be reached for another 20 years in much of the country.

Mark Marriott, NEW Devon CCG’s director responsible for developing the plans, said he was confident that by acting early the local health system could meet the challenge and safeguard services for future generations.

“We have spent the last six months identifying the Devon and Plymouth health community’s part of the £30 billion national challenge, so we are well placed to tackle it,” he said.

“Of course the £430 million figure over the next five years that has been reported in the media is just a prediction at this stage.

"We have five years to put measures in place that transform the way we support communities and care for patients, working with people and organisations across Devon and Plymouth to create a sustainable future for the local NHS.

"This represents a real opportunity to make changes for the better.”

“If a business projected that it would lose position in the market place in five years’ time it would start doing something about it now, and although the ‘business’ of the NHS is to treat patients, the idea is the same.

“Some of the ways we can meet the demand is through a longer term programme of whole system change, from health promotion, such as helping people to stop smoking and drink sensibly, to making sure we commission affordable quality services.

“We aim to commission the right care in the right place and this is not always in hospital. It may be that some procedures could be undertaken at a GP surgery for example, or care could be provided in the patient’s home if clinically appropriate.”

All NHS and local authority organisations are involved, working together, because they know that the whole system needs to change.

It’s not just a case of doing things individually, or working in the same way but harder; it’s about rethinking more fundamentally how care is provided.

A series of urgent and necessary measures have already been agreed by the NEW Devon CCG Governing Body yesterday.to address a £15million deficit this year.

Mr Marriott explained that these measures were separate to the £30 billion challenge as they needed to happen this year to make sure services were not affected in the future.

“We want to make sure that we don’t have to take urgent measures next year or thereafter, so we need to make up the £15 million funding gap that we face this year,” he said.

“But the real challenge is how we meet our part of the NHS chief executive Simon Stevens’ five year plan to meet a £30 billion rise in patient demand over the next five years.”