Sussex MP says NHS is 'bunged up' following critical report
It shows our health is worse than it's ever been - and might not improve
Mid Sussex MP Alison Bennett says a lack of support outside of hospitals is leaving the NHS "bunged up" as more of us than ever before are consistently off sick.
Released today, a fresh Commission on Health and Prosperity has revealed that long term sickness could have lost the UK four and a half billion in a taxes last year - and our health's only getting worse.
Researchers found that 900,000 more workers were off work due to long-term sickness compared to what would have expected to have occurred had pre-2020 trends continued.
Alison Bennett says our poor health alongside wait times for GP appointments is impacting us "in every sector":
"I saw an example recently at the Royal Mail, where they've got posties who are waiting for treatment with the NHS, and while they're waiting for that treatment, they can't work.
"That has an impact on our economic productivity right across the country."
The report also revealed that better population health could save the NHS ÂŁ18 billion a year.
But Bennett adds that an investment in social care would also help alleviate the pressure:
"The Darzi report last week said that 13% of hospital beds are occupied by people who are ready medically to go home, but there's no care package for them.
"Until you actually start working out what you're going to do about social care and making sure its there for people when they need it, you're going to have a really sort of bunged up NHS."
Lord Darzi's wide-ranging review concluded that the NHS is "in serious trouble" and has prompted Labour to promise wide-spread reform of the health service.
Now the new Institute of Public Policy Research report also highlights how long-term illness is impacting productivity and the labour supply.
The authors of the report wrote: "We lag our peers on health outcomes, the number of people with a long-term condition is rising, and people are spending longer in poor health.
"And health is worsening throughout the life course - bringing real challenges for children, adolescents, working-age adults, and those who have retired.
"That is, the nation's health challenges have reached historic proportions.
"Better health will only be possible if we move from a sickness model of health policy to a health creation one."
This model could "focus intervention on the places where people really spend their time" - work, school, at home and in communities - and include universal free school meals and new neighbourhood health centres across the country.
A health creation model could potentially add 10 years to healthy life expectancy by 2055 and to halve regional health inequalities, the IPPR said.