Cross-party commission proposes new bold NHS plan for 21st century

The Institute for Public Policy research has concluded a three-year enquiry into Britain’s healthcare system, and it argues that improving healthcare will drive economic growth.

It calls itself the “most ambitious blueprint for the nation’s health since the Beveridge report”, which was commissioned by civil servant William Beveridge during the Second World War. It contained recommendations to improve the lives of ordinary people, advising the government to care for Britons “from the cradle to the grave”. It is widely credited for inspiring the birth of the NHS and the welfare state during Clement Atlee’s post-war Labour government.

The thinktank’s report has backing from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who argues that Britain “won’t build a healthy economy without a healthy society” and said he looks forward “to studying their ideas closely”.

The Commission was chaired by Lord Darzi, who released his own independent report into the NHS, and Dame Sally Davies, former Chief Medical Officer for England. Also heavily involved were former Health Secretary and current Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and Lord James Bethell, who served as a junior health minister under Boris Johnson.

Dame Sally Davies said that the UK “simply should not tolerate decline in our children’s health any longer” and argued that now was the time for “bold action to ensure a health inheritance for future generations”.

The commissioners concluded that worsening public health is directly linked to economic stagnation and low productivity. It projected that if current trends continue, the number of people economically inactive due to illness could rise to 4.3 million by 2029, up from 2.8 million currently.

It estimates that 900,000 extra people were missing from work at the end of 2023 because of illness, and that this could lead to a £5 billion loss in tax receipts for the Treasury in 2024. On the flip side, it suggests that improvements in our population’s health could save the NHS £18 billion a year by the mid 2030s.

The report’s recommendations:

The IPPR’s core recommendation is to move from a reactive sickness model to a proactive model, that aims to promote good health in all realms of life. It aims to add 10 years to UK life expectancy by 2055, and to halve regional health inequalities.

Another key theme is a ‘new beginning’ for children’s health, with proposals for universal free school meals and a restoration of the Sure Start scheme. Its analysis shows a decline in childhood health over the last decade, citing increases in infant deaths, obesity and health conditions.

Some other key proposals include:

• Introducing new taxes on ‘health polluters’ like tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy food, which could raise £10 billion a year to fund healthy food schemes
• Establishing ‘Health and Prosperity Improvement (HAPI) zones’ across the UK, with powers to invest in local health infrastructure
• Build new ‘Neighbourhood health centres’ across the UK, intended to be a “one-stop shop” for primary care, diagnostics and mental health
• Create a new health index similar to GDP, which will help assess how the nation’s health is changing over time
• Introduce a ‘right to try’ work for those on health and disability benefits, allowing people on benefits to try work with no risk to their welfare status

Health Secretary Wes Streeting will speak at the report’s launch event in Westminster on Wednesday 18th September. The full IPPR report is available here.