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Britain’s poor record on health costs economy £43bn a year, says report
Britain’s poor record on health is costing the economy £43bn a year and cutting the annual incomes of individuals affected by long-term sickness by up to £2,200 a year on average, a report says.
With official figures showing more days lost to sickness than at any time since 2004, the Institute for Public Policy Research said improving the country’s health was vital both for the economy and to boost the incomes of disadvantaged groups.
In a report that covered seven years before and during the Covid pandemic, the IPPR said the health of the population was going backwards. The UK had rising rates of death and impairment – including greater incidence of long-term health conditions, and since 1960 had fallen from 7th to 23rd for life expectancy among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development group of wealthy countries.
Sickness was a factor in half the people leaving work and had a marked impact on an individual’s income and job prospects, the thinktank said. The report found that in the the five years before the pandemic, the annual earnings of someone with a new physical illness fell by £1,800 on average.
The impact on annual earnings was even more marked for people with a new mental health condition, falling by about £2,200 on average.
Since 2020, someone with a new chronic physical illness experienced an average fall of £1,400 in annual earnings, while the onset of a mental health condition the decrease was about £1,700 on average.
Dame Sally Davies, a former chief medical officer for England, who co-chairs the IPPR commission on health and prosperity, said: “We now know that the UK does worse on health than most other comparable countries – and that this has a tremendous human and economic cost. We also know exactly what policies and innovations could transform health. So it is mystifying why UK politicians, across all parties, have failed to take decisive action.”
Source: The Guardian, 27 April 2023
See also: The IPPR - Healthy people, prosperous lives
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Deficit trusts face ‘intimidating conversations’ and orders to hold down staffing
NHS England has told many trusts and systems they are not allowed to increase their staffing establishment in the next 12 months, HSJ has learned.
Trust leaders said NHS England and the government were treating money as the “first priority” and one director, speaking anonymously, said: “The tone of the conversation [with NHSE about finance] has become intimidating and I worry that this will lead boards to take unsafe risks, and head into Mid Staffs territory.”
(Referring to the scandal in the 2000s at Stafford hospital, run by Mid Staffordshire FT, where a series of reports found that patient care had suffered because trust bosses had focused on cutting costs and delivering financial surpluses so they could become a foundation trust.)
Board papers seen by HSJ, and several senior sources, confirmed many trusts had been told by NHSE during the planning process that they were not permitted to increased their total number of planned posts, known as staffing “establishment”, for 2023-24.
It comes amid a drawn-out planning process, with national and regional NHSE teams going through individual trust budgets to find more savings, as they try to bring down a £3bn forecast deficit. Parts of government believe the NHS recruited too many staff over the past two-three years, while recorded activity has not increased, and are now seeking to hold down staffing in order to increase productivity.
Several sources said the message to some trusts and systems was likely to compromise care quality.
One director said trusts were being pushed to deliver “unattainable” savings rates of 7 per cent or more, adding: “We all know it’s going to be a financially challenging year and we will have to make significant progress to reducing our deficit position, however this has to be done safely and in balance.”
An NHSE spokeswoman said: “Local NHS organisations are expected to manage budgets in line with the funding available and to make realistic plans based on the availability of clinical staff.”
Source: HSJ, 27 April 2023
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UK to tighten rules on online gambling after long-awaited review
Proposals to tighten regulation of online gambling have been published by the government, in a long-awaited shake-up of laws passed before smartphones put 24-hour casino games and sports betting in every pocket.
After multiple delays, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) released a white paper on Thursday morning, laying out its blueprint for regulating the modern gambling industry.
The culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, told the House of Commons that gambling could wreck lives and ministers were “bringing our pre-smartphone regulations into the present day with a gambling white paper for the digital age”.
The proposals include:
• A 1% mandatory levy on industry revenues.
• Tougher affordability checks to prevent huge losses.
• Online slot machine stakes capped at between £2 and £15.
• Curbing “free spin” and “bonus” offers.
• Measures to slow down online casino games.
• More resources for the Gambling Commission.
• Plans for a gambling ombudsman.
Nearly all of the measures will go out for further consultation, signalling fresh delay to a process that began in late 2020, when the government launched a review promised in Boris Johnson’s 2019 election manifesto.
Labour’s Carolyn Harris, who co-chairs a cross-party group of MPs examining gambling harms, says “It is time to protect people whose lives have been destroyed by gambling and stop lining the pockets of industry who’ve had their way for far too long.”
Source: Guardian, 27 April 2023
See also: Department for Culture, Media & Sport – Gambling Reform for the Digital Age | Ministerial announcement on gambling reform
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US adult cigarette smoking rate hits new all-time low
U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released Thursday. Meanwhile, electronic cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults.
The preliminary findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are based on survey responses from more than 27,000 adults.
Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, and it's long been considered the leading cause of preventable death.
In the mid-1960s, 42% of U.S. adults were smokers. The rate has been gradually dropping for decades, due to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes, smoking bans and changes in the social acceptability of lighting up in public.
Last year, the percentage of adult smokers dropped to about 11%, down from about 12.5% in 2020 and 2021. The survey findings sometimes are revised after further analysis, and CDC is expected to release final 2021 data soon.
Source: The Daily Mail, 27 April 2023
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PMQs
Dr Caroline Johnson, Conservative, Sleaford and North Hykeham, asked if the Prime Minister would meet with her to discuss plans to stop children becoming addicted to vaping and if he would back her 10 Minute Rule Bill to ban disposable apes.
Responding, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commended Dr Johnson for her work in this area. He said that the Department for Health and Social Care have announced call for evidence to look at reducing youth vaping and that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are looking at changes that can be made to mitigate the environmental impact of vapes.
Source: Hansard, 26 April 2023
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