There are moments in our national story when our choices define who we are. In 1948, Clement Attlee’s government made a choice founded on fairness: that everyone in our country deserves to receive the care they need, not the care they can afford.

That the National Health Service was created amid the rubble and ruin of the aftermath of war makes that choice all the more remarkable. It enshrined in law and in the service itself our collective conviction that healthcare is not a privilege to be bought and sold, but a right to be cherished and protected. Now it falls to our generation to make the same choice.

There have always been those who have whispered that the NHS is a burden, too expensive, inferior to the market. Today, those voices grow louder, determined to use the crisis in the NHS as an opportunity to dismantle it. This government rejects the pessimistic view that universal healthcare could be afforded in the 20th century but not in the 21st. So does the public. But unless the NHS changes, the argument that it is unsustainable will grow more compelling. It really is change or bust. We choose change.

Today, the prime minister will launch our 10-year plan for health, to radically reimagine healthcare. More care will be available on your doorstep and from your own home, with thousands more GPs. Services and resources will be moved out of hospitals and into the community. New neighbourhood health centres will house doctors, nurses, physios, therapists, tests, scans and urgent care under one roof, built around patients’ convenience.

AI technology will liberate frontline staff from the drudgery of admin, giving them time to care. Saving just 90 seconds of data entry and note-taking per appointment would be the equivalent of hiring an extra 2,000 GPs. For patients, tech will make booking appointments and managing your care as easy as doing your shopping........

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