Professor Chris Whitty predicts what NHS will face on its 90th birthday

Prof Chris Whitty, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Health, recently gave a keynote speech at the University of Sheffield about what the NHS will face in 20 years time.

In his Sir Arthur Hall lecture Prof Whitty considered where we have come from and where we are going over the next two decades in health and medicine.

This year the NHS celebrates its 70th birthday. There have been significant changes in health and medicine in the UK over the last two decades, and in many areas of healthcare very substantial changes since the initial foundation of the NHS in 1948. These include major reductions in the impact of heart disease and stroke, large changes to infectious diseases and many improvements in the prevention and treatment of cancers. In some areas such as diabetes or antimicrobial resistance things are moving in the wrong direction. The demography of the UK has changed and is changing. Many of the trends have been remarkably stable so it is possible realistically to project forward 20 years in many areas of medicine and public health. This helps with planning research and policy.