The President of the College has welcomed additional funding in England to support the prevention of health conditions and diseases – but cautioned that for progress to be made, this funding must be protected for an appropriate time period.
In its long term funding plan, NHS England has pledged to strengthen its contribution to prevention. Professor Bell pointed to an example in Scotland, where integration authorities (IAs) have some of their resources ring-fenced for specific purposes e.g. allocations to Health Boards for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships. This is an example that NHS England could follow.
And while Professor Bell believes that expanding and improving preventative measures is important, he wants the NHS in England to remain equally committed to, and focused on, patients who require ongoing care and support.
Reflecting on the long term plan, Professor Bell said that quality care can only be delivered by a high quality workforce with the appropriate level of education, and medical research. He believes that the UK Government can still provide greater clarity on how it plans to retain doctors from the EU, as well as maintain funding for medical research in the UK.
Commenting, Professor Bell said:
The intention to strengthen prevention is welcome, because if successful, this may in future free up much needed funding and staff resource which could be used elsewhere in the NHS. Indeed, we should expect as much from our NHS. But this policy must be backed by a high quality workforce, with the right education and training to deliver quality prevention services.
In England in 2013/14, the average NHS spend per head was £1,742, compared to £49 per head for average public health spending. We think that ring-fencing the prevention budget, and a more integrated, system approach would help deliver public health objectives.
Although the 10 year plan is ambitious, NHS England must ensure that it does not leap head first into new or additional measures in underperforming areas, without understanding why outcomes aren’t as good as expected. For example, the plan acknowledges that the voluntary salt reduction programme has made insufficient progress. We know that consuming too much salt is a leading factor in preventable heart and circulatory disease, but without knowing why the programme to reduce the amount of salt going into produce has made insufficient progress, it will be difficult to improve outcomes. For such programmes, it may be necessary to look at legislative options.
Overall, it’s vital that NHS England takes an evidence based approach to prevention, backed by research and of course a quality, well trained, well educated workforce.
