Free cinema tickets and new TV channel suggested as public asked about NHS views

By Ella Pickover, Reporter21st October 2024News EnglandConsultation, Hospitals, News England, NHS, Workforce

A “maximum BMI for nurses” and an “NHS TV channel” are just some of the suggestions put forward as officials launched a national consultation on the future of the health service.

Hundreds of suggestions were put forward in the hours after the consultation was officially launched by ministers on Monday.

Billed as “the biggest national conversation about the future of the NHS since its birth”, members of the public will be able to share their views online via change.NHS.uk until the start of next year.

Topics of conversation include streamlining management, providing better pay for NHS workers, improving access to dentistry and social care, among others.

One contributor called for an NHS TV channel “for patients to access physiotherapy exercise sessions for various conditions”.

Another called for free parking in hospitals while others suggested that the service should prescribe gym memberships to help tackle the nation’s obesity crisis.

Some of the suggestions need to be taken with a pinch of salt, such as one contributor calling for all doctors to be given “Doctor Who” name badges.

One contributor called for free cinema tickets “on the NHS”.

Another said that staff “should lead by example” as they said that the NHS should introduce a maximum BMI score for nurses.

On Monday, NHS England’s national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis (pictured) was asked about previous public engagement activities, such as the public poll which saw Boaty McBoatface emerge as the winning choice for the naming of a polar research ship, but it was vetoed and named RRS Sir David Attenborough instead.

He told Sky News: “I’m really confident that patients and staff often have the solutions to problems.

“I visit many, many health organisations, whether it’s in general practice or in hospitals, every week and I’m always struck that staff and patients have ideas, they have great ideas.

“Our job is to capture them, to test them, and where they work, to ensure that we roll them out as quickly as possible.

“So I’m very confident that there will be a lot of great ideas coming out of this listening exercise.”

Some of the posts were overtly racist, prompting questions to be sent to the Department of Health and Social Care about automatic publication of the user-generated posts.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the website includes an AI filter which is supposed to block the use of offensive language.

A spokesperson said there is also a team which manually monitors the site for posts which slip through the filter.

“We’re launching the biggest national conversation about the future of the NHS, inviting the whole country to share their experiences in order to shape the Government’s 10-year health plan and put staff and patients at the heart of reform,” the spokesperson said.

“The online platform has a moderation process in place to ensure that content is removed or hidden in cases where it is clearly inappropriate or irrelevant.”