The challenge

In 2018, the National Health Service (NHS) received a new financial settlement and in 2019 set out its Long Term Plan, which established how healthcare and more specifically curative and palliative medicine will be delivered. By 2036-37, a quarter of all public spending will be for health, of which the clear majority is for the NHS. As a country we remain preoccupied with cure rather than prevention and it is not working with strong evidence for stalling life expectancy and growing health inequalities. To reverse these trends we must rethink our approach to health in the UK.

CPP's approach

In 2018/19, CPP embarked on an ambitious programme of research and engagement on the future of health and social care in England. Guided by an authoritative group of clinical and non-clinical advisors, the inquiry considered how best to deliver health in the broadest sense - going beyond the reach of the NHS and healthcare and towards joined up health, economic and social policy at national and local level to drive better population health.

Outputs

As part of the inquiry, CPP published three reports, conducted a consultation with the public and engaged with a wide range of key stakeholders from local and national government, public bodies and academia.

Beyond the NHS: Addressing the root causes of poor health
The final part of our year-long inquiry sets out a compelling alternative vision, for a sustainable, whole systems model of health and social care in England. The publication was endorsed by a range of key stakeholders who highlighted the links between socioeconomic factors and health in a blog series:

• Tom Coffey, Senior Health Advisor to the Mayor of London
  A healthy London requires a holistic approach to health
  
  
• Jo Bibby, Director of Health, Health Foundation
  To reap the benefits of the NHS as an anchor institution we need to shift its culture
  
  
• Kate Henderson, Chief Executive, NHF
  Housing and place play a key role in people’s health
  
  
• Claire Ainsley, Executive Director, JRF
  Solving poverty is key to improving our nation’s health
  
  
• Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analyst for Kings' Fund
  Moving to a new and holistic model of healthcare

The final report was launched in the House of Commons with a distinguished panel and an expert audience, including Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Professor Sir Michael Marmot and Sarah Wollaston MP, Chair of the Health Select Committee.

Watch a short summary video below, with comments by advisory board members Professor Peter Kopelman and Maureen Dalziel.

Beyond sticking plasters: A whole systems approach to health and social care
This report looks into the health impacts of place-based inequalities and the consequences of local areas having complex and fragmented healthcare institutions.

Diagnosis Critical: Launching an inquiry into health and social care in England
Marking the launch of CPP’s health and social care programme, this report has identified two stark population inequalities which powerfully show why this work is needed.

Public deliberation on NHS funding and system reform
CPP commissioned Populus to collect qualitative data on public attitudes towards health and social care funding to build on and support its own quantitative analysis outlined in this report.

Impact

Professor Sir Michael Marmot (Vice-Chancellor and Emeritus
Professor of Medicine, University of London and former
Principal, St George’s) warmly welcomed the CPP report:

Professor Sir Michael Marmot added that this report should form the start of a social movement in addressing health equity and the social determinants of health and highlight the need for more investment in education and training to allow decision makers to respond to the needs of patients in a more holistic sense.

Sarah Wollaston MP praised the CPP report for providing a robust evidence base and the necessary recommendations to move the debate forward and suggested that lessons could be learnt from how far the mental health agenda has advanced in the last ten years.

“An exceptional piece of work”

Professor Peter Kopelman, Vice-Chancellor and Emeritus
Professor of Medicine, University of London and former
Principal, St George’s

“This report is a paradigm shift”

Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A., President and CEO,
Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health

Driving forward the public debate, CPP’s Inquiry has also achieved significant media coverage in local and national media and highlighted the role of place in achieving health outcomes.

“The CPP report drags the debate on health inequalities back to the hard facts.”

Richard Vize, The Guardian

Next steps in the CPP’s health and social care programme

While the launch event marked the final report in the CPP’s health and social care inquiry, we will continue to pursue this agenda to boost the nation’s health and deliver shared prosperity. This includes roundtable events at the Conservative and Labour party conferences.