The publication last week of the NHS Long Term Plan marks the biggest shift to community and primary health services and prevention since it was launched 70 years ago. If implemented, the plan also suggests a far greater involvement in the services traditionally seen as local government's – in particular, a possible transfer of some public health duties from councils back to the NHS.

The report is immensely detailed. It is long on aspiration – especially when it comes to technology, considering that the fax machine is still in regular use within the NHS. It is ambitious in its greater focus on prevention, lifestyle, diet and home care. In the long-term, it aims to reduce expensive hospital costs.