NHS 10-year plan: What does the prevention shift mean for investors and wellness businesses?

The NHS stands at a pivotal moment in its history, with its new 10-year plan signalling a shift from traditional care models toward proactive prevention and health promotion. With the UK confronting escalating health challenges – over a quarter of the population living with chronic conditions and obesity rates that have doubled in three decades – the imperative for change is clear.

Prevention is placed at the centre of the plan, highlighting the preventability of diseases with bold statements on obesity, smoking and social determinants of health as essential means to bending the “NHS cost curve”. This focus on prevention aligns with the aim of improving population health using health data, AI, genomics and predictive analysis. The plan’s reforms to incentives, payment mechanisms and commissioning for population health could make preventative care much easier to do.

Businesses and technology innovators should see the 10-year plan as an opportunity – the technology and services that support early intervention, reduce hospital admissions or help delay disease progression are likely to align with NHS priorities.

Prevention-first landscape

The NHS is charting a course away from simply diagnosing and treating illness to predicting and preventing it. This vision is underpinned by a focus on moving care from hospitals into communities, modernising analogue processes with digital solutions, and placing prevention at the centre of the health system’s future.

Poor health is already acting as a “drag” on the economic growth needed to support the NHS and invest in other public services. If current sickness patterns persist, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that government health spending will rise from today’s 8% of GDP to an unsustainable 14.5% by 2073/74. This would mean health spending rising at twice the real growth rate of the economy.

What does the plan mean for shifting from sickness to prevention?

The 10-year plan sets a framework to transform the NHS into a driver of economic growth, not just a beneficiary of public funds.

Key proposals include:

• Vaccinations, screenings, and early diagnosis: Expanding access via the Neighbourhood Health Service, with commitments to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 and to deliver 10,000 cancer vaccines to patients in clinical trials in the next five years.
• Genomics and predictive analysis: The creation of a new genomics population health service accessible to all for predictive and personalised medicines, utilising genomics, and advanced analytics to personalise risk assessments and interventions. Patients will be able to access data on their individual risk through the Single Patient Record and the NHS app by the end of the decade.
• Integrated, secure patient data: A unified and secure patient account will facilitate coordinated, personalised, and predictive care.
• Incentives for preventive care: The NHS will realign financial flows and incentives, so funding is based not on hospital activity, but on delivering improved population health outcomes.

Creating the healthiest generation of children 

Measures include better access to mental health support, obesity, and dental care. It will be mandatory for newly qualified dentists to work in the NHS for a minimum of three years on qualification, ensuring stable access to preventive dental care.

Opportunities for investors and wellness businesses

A significant shift towards prevention is underway, with Britons increasingly taking a more active role in managing their health. This change is reflected in the booming UK consumer health market now worth £4.1 billion as of 2024 with strong growth projections over the next five years. 

Businesses that offer digital wellness solutions, wearables, health screenings, or preventive care products stand to benefit from increased demand and NHS partnerships.

This plan also reaffirms a commitment to a “plurality of providers” signalling that the independent health sector – whether tech innovator or investor – will play a broader role in the delivery of neighbourhood health services. These services, open 12 hours a day, six days a week, will provide opportunities for the private sector to offer diagnostic services, innovative preventive services, digital health tools, and holistic wellness programmes.

Looking ahead

While details of the plan’s implementation are yet to emerge, the plan invites businesses and investors to play an active role in shaping the future of England’s health service. Those willing to seize this opportunity may find the coming decade rich with growth and partnership, and the satisfaction of helping to redefine the very notion of public health and wellness.

Prior to the publication of the 10-year plan, we wrote an article for Healthcare Markets on the investment opportunities in the health and wellness market in 2025. Do check it out.