Prioritising prevention: a GP’s perspective

Prevention is one of the most effective strategies for improving population health and reducing healthcare costs, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the NHS. With growing pressure from an increasing disease burden, including rising rates of mental health disorders and chronic conditions such as heart disease and cancer, it is crucial to address health risks early. This proactive approach can not only extend healthy life expectancy, but also reduce health inequalities, alleviate pressure on overstretched services and foster a more resilient and productive workforce, driving economic benefits directly and indirectly. This has been recognised by the 10 Year Health Plan for England, with a proposed radical shift from treatment to prevention. As highlighted in our recent report, Rejuvenating general practice, GPs play a pivotal role in delivering this shift.¹ To understand the sentiment of UK GPs about the preparedness of their practices, we conducted a survey (n=68) between 20 and 22 October 2025 about their experiences, barriers, and hopes for the future of prevention in primary care. This blog explores the insights from this survey.

Prevention strategies are largely integrated into practices, but barriers remain

Embedding evidence-based prevention practices into routine clinical work is vital to shifting healthcare systems from reactive treatment models to proactive approaches that address health risks early and enhance overall care efficiency. When queried how well evidence-based prevention practices such as lifestyle counselling, screening and vaccinations are integrated into their routine clinical work, the responses painted a mixed picture. While 41 per cent indicated that prevention practices were fully integrated and consistently applied, 44 per cent indicated they were only partially integrated, applied when time and resources permit. The remaining responded that prevention was either minimally integrated (12 per cent) or not integrated at all, with acute care taking precedence (three per cent).

The main barriers for implementing preventative strategies were insufficient consultation time and overwhelming workload pressures (46 per cent), followed by lack of patient engagement, motivation, or adherence to preventive recommendations (26 per cent) and limited access to specialist resources (15 per cent; see Figure 1). Our Rejuvenating general practice report identified that workforce shortages, overworked and stressed staff and the ability to deal with increasingly complex cases as the top three factors that undermine GPs’ ability to meet patient needs and expectations.ⁱⁱ

Therefore, the overwhelming pressures of insufficient time and resources, combined with low patient engagement, highlight the need for a strategic shift and underscore the growing importance of understanding the impact of health inequalities. It is well understood that many risk factors (including obesity, smoking and alcohol use) are higher in more deprived areas, hence tailored and diverse approaches and innovative solutions are needed to effectively address these disparities and drive meaningful change. Delivering prevention differently could be significantly enhanced through the use of supporting technologies and digital tools for targeted searches, automated invitations, streamlined booking systems, behavioural nudges, and wearable devices that promote healthier lifestyles.

Figure 1 – Main barriers to implementing prevention strategies effectively

Source: Deloitte analysis of a Medfield-run survey of 68 GPs in the UK. Question: What is the biggest barrier you face in effectively implementing prevention strategies with your patients?

Funding, dedicated time and interdisciplinary collaboration are key to overcoming these barriers

Given the time/workload constraints, when asked about which support mechanisms would have the most impact to improve their ability to deliver effective prevention practices, the majority selected increased funding and protected time for prevention consultations (53 per cent; see Figure 2). Other reports have recognised underinvestment in prevention as a critical issue in moving the dial. The latest Health at a Glance report showed that, in 2023, only six per cent of current health expenditure in the UK was spent on prevention. This proportion was five per cent in 2013, highlighting the lack of progress in shifting the resources towards more proactive approaches.ⁱⁱⁱ

Figure 2 - Support mechanisms to improve the effective delivery of prevention practices

Source: Deloitte analysis of a Medfield-run survey of 68 GPs in the UK. Question: Which of the following support mechanisms would have the most impact to improve your ability to deliver effective prevention practices? (please select 3 options)

Enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration and team-based care models was the second most selected factor (37 per cent), recognising the importance of other community-based roles, such as pharmacists and social workers. Deloitte’s The shift to prevention report (alongside Google and the Royal Society) goes a step further and suggests that “the success of this health promotion and protection approach relies on a shift towards decentralised healthcare, where keeping healthy should be a non-medicalised, convenient part of everyday life” involving a wide range of stakeholders beyond the NHS and central and local government.^iv These include employers and health insurers, innovators, education establishments, non-profits and retail. Furthermore, integration with public health initiatives was highlighted by 24 per cent of respondents, emphasising the need for a cohesive approach that aligns healthcare services with broader public health strategies to address population health challenges more effectively.

Other mechanisms included standardised, evidence-based guidelines and clear clinical pathways (29 per cent), crucial to enable a timely and effective prescription of prevention interventions that work, and greater access to digital tools, mobile applications, and remote monitoring (29 per cent).

A population-wide transformation

An effective prevention programme requires a public health approach, addressing systemic factors such as equitable access, education, and community-level interventions to create an environment that supports healthier choices for all. When asked for one major change to significantly improve population-level prevention outcomes, the surveyed GPs selected a greater investment in health education and literacy programmes for the general public from an early age (34 per cent; see Figure 3). A proactive approach to healthcare can only be possible with the buy-in of individuals; schools can have a pivotal role in health education, mental health awareness and building digital skills into national curricula, as highlighted in Deloitte’s The shift to prevention report.

Figure 3 – Strategies to improve population-level prevention outcomes

Source: Deloitte analysis of a Medfield-run survey of 68 GPs in the UK. Question: If you could implement one major change to significantly improve population-level prevention outcomes in your region, what would it be?

Furthermore, the GP responses highlighted the need for broader, system-level actions with a request for strong, sustained policy with a focus on health promotion and disease prevention (24 per cent), as that proposed by the 10 Year Health Plan, and new healthcare funding models that prioritise prevention (18 per cent), e.g., connecting financial performance with patient outcomes. These system-level changes will be key to shift the dial and accelerate the progress towards a more equitable, preventative healthcare model.

Technology and personalisation potential drive optimism

Technology and scientific advancements have a pivotal role to play in enabling a more proactive, preventative approach in healthcare, both at individual and population levels. When asked about the emerging trends or technologies that hold the most promise for transforming prevention practices over the next 5-10 years, artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics were seen as the most promising, chosen by 47 per cent of respondents for their potential in early risk stratification and personalised interventions. Personalised medicine, genomics, and pharmacogenomics (43 per cent), along with wearable devices and continuous remote monitoring (43 per cent), were also viewed as key drivers of future change (see Figure 4). These three technologies hold immense potential in reducing health inequities, both by allowing the identification of at-risk patients for the development of tailored prevention strategies and continuous monitoring of patients, but also to support patients with behaviour modification.

Figure 4 – Emerging technologies that will transform prevention practices in the next 5-10 years

Source: Deloitte analysis of a Medfield-run survey of 68 GPs in the UK. Question: Which emerging trend or technology do you believe holds the most promise for transforming prevention practices in the next 5-10 years? (please select 3 options)

Although the survey results indicate that only a minority view data-related factors as critical enablers for prevention, this perception may not fully reflect the growing importance of data in healthcare. We have identified data as a crucial enabler to create an ecosystem for health promotion and protection, being embedded in many of the emerging technologies that can help to shift from a sickness to a prevention model, including AI and predictive analytics, precision medicine and digital tools. To capitalise on data, it is crucial for an investment in data infrastructure and governance to break down data silos and establish clear, consistent standards to improve interoperability and connectivity in order to provide both healthcare professionals and citizens with comprehensive health data.^v

Conclusion

The shift towards a preventative healthcare model is crucial for the NHS's long-term sustainability and population health, as shown in Deloitte’s report The Shift to Prevention: Realising the Socio-Economic Potential (the UK can unlock £8 for every £1 spent on prevention).^vi While UK GPs recognise the importance of prevention, our survey highlights significant barriers, primarily insufficient consultation time, overwhelming workload pressures, and challenges with patient engagement. Overcoming these requires a multi-faceted approach, with GPs advocating for increased funding, protected time for preventative consultations, enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration, and better integration with public health initiatives. Furthermore, emerging technologies like AI, personalised medicine, and wearables offer promising avenues for early risk stratification and tailored interventions. Ultimately, achieving a truly preventative system demands a population-wide transformation, underpinned by greater investment in public health education and sustained policy with new funding models that prioritise prevention, paving the way for a more resilient and equitable healthcare future.