ABSTRACT
Patients Association focuses on patients’ needs working with healthcare professionals and advocating for patients. Due to the pandemic, several patients have reported feeling ignored by the system. Staff have been demoralised and exhausted again due to not only existing pressures on the NHS but also due to the pandemic. The service has been a National COVID Service rather than National Health Service. Two key steps forward are shared decision-making and patient partnership that we really need as we look at the future of the NHS. Free access at the point of entry is a crucial principle. Three things that are a must-have: government strategy for mental health and well-being, social care and workforce planning. Patients and clinicians need to start working together now to make sure that the NHS is protected along with its values. The NHS has been underfunded for 12 years; it needs funding not only now but also a sustainable model of funding.
