What stands out is that many of these criticisms relate as much to communications failures as policy challenges. The 171-page 10 Year Health Plan contains promising ideas, yet its vague terminology and ill-defined oversight have drawn sharp scrutiny. This sentiment is reflected in polling by OnePoll for the PRCA which found that just 16.2% of in-house communications professionals surveyed felt “very prepared” to advise senior health leaders on the proposed changes to the health system. Over half of all respondents (50.6%) were concerned that the communications challenges of the plan risked “public confusion and disengagement”.

The other key challenge is that the Health Secretary is also beholden to the Government’s flagship NHS target: the 18-week elective referral-to-treatment standard. Streeting has said that by 2029, 92% of patients in England will be treated within this timeframe.

Governments stake big political capital on targets like this because, unlike 10 year plans, they offer tangible and symbolic measures of progress. On the flip side, they invite relentless media scrutiny. Any perceived risk of failure can dominate headlines and drown out the messages the Department want to land. Just look at the level of speculation on this issue in the past few months.

NHS reform is a daunting task and has proven elusive for successive Ministers. Yet, progress is possible if the Government can understand and harness public perception. The IfG report is a reminder that reform only succeeds when the public understands the change, connects with the change and experiences the change in a meaningful way.

With our health clients, we’ve seen the impact of engaging the public and important stakeholder groups to develop communications – whether through policy co-authorship, securing endorsements from patient groups, or using polling to strengthen the case for reform.