Health and Care 2025 to 2035 – Ready for The Future

In this panel discussion, leaders from social care, NHS workforce planning, and the independent sector come together to explore what must change between now and 2035, and what care providers can do now to prepare.

Featuring perspectives from:

• Damian Green, Chair, Social Care Foundation
• Professor Mark Radford, Deputy Chief Nurse & National Director of Education and Training, NHS England
• Nick Chamberlain‑Parks, Marketing Director, HCRG Care Group

The session examines the structural realities facing health and care, and the practical steps required to move from ambition to delivery.

What the panel explores:

1. Integration is the defining challenge of the next decade

Across the panel, there is clear agreement:

You cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care.

Despite repeated reform, health and social care remain structurally misaligned, from funding and governance to workforce voice and representation. Without parity and genuine integration, pressure simply moves around the system rather than being resolved.

2. Workforce resilience is foundational, not secondary

The future of care depends on:

• Fair pay and clearer career pathways
• Recognition of care as a profession
• Stronger identity, voice, and representation for the social care workforce

Suggestions discussed include professional registers, clearer progression routes, and a stronger collective voice for care providers, reinforcing workforce resilience as a governance issue, not just a staffing one.

3. Community‑based care is already happening, unevenly

Examples from the independent sector show that:

• Neighbourhood‑based models can work
• Community assets (voluntary, faith, local organisations) are critical
• Trust between hospital and community services is essential

The challenge is not proving the model, it is scaling it consistently while maintaining confidence and safety.

4. Technology enables integration, but only if embedded properly

The panel highlights two critical roles for technology:

• System‑level integration, where individuals are treated as the same person across health and care
• Preventative support, helping people stay well at home and avoid unnecessary hospital admission

Importantly, technology is framed as an enabler of human care, not a replacement for it, supporting earlier intervention, better coordination, and more informed decision‑making.

5. Data, risk, and decision‑making must evolve together

As care shifts into the community, risk becomes:

• More distributed
• More dynamic
• Less visible through traditional reporting

This demands better use of data, predictive insight, and workforce intelligence, alongside clear accountability and human oversight.

6. Change will not be delivered top‑down alone

While national policy sets direction, meaningful transformation happens locally:

• Through partnerships between NHS, social care, and independent providers
• Through leaders willing to test new models responsibly
• Through frontline teams empowered to adapt and innovate

The message is clear: waiting for perfect conditions delays progress.

Watch the full session to hear diverse sector perspectives on what the next decade holds, and how health and care organisations can prepare with confidence rather than uncertainty.