Capital Economy, Business and Finance
A patient rights advocacy group claims NHS England’s new Health and Growth programme will create a healthcare system prioritising earnings over need.
The programme launched in South Yorkshire, Cumbria, and West Yorkshire at the start of December will focus on “preventing diseases that lead to people dropping out of work,” including cardiovascular problems, diabetes, back pain and mental health issues, MedConfidential says.
Amanda Pritchard, the NHS chief executive, says the plan means “the NHS can be a key driver for economic growth in England”, but MedConfidential’s Sam Smith argues that in practice getting twentysomethings healthy will be considered more important than treating Alzheimer’s or hip operations for the elderly.
“If you have one ambulance and your care priority is economic growth, how will you decide where to send it?”
In July Wes Streeting, the health secretary, defined the NHS’s first priority as improving health to boost the labour market. In October he announced weight loss jabs like Wegovy for obese patients “holding back our economy”.
Last week, the chancellor told ministers to stop spending money on non-priority areas. NHS England did not reply to questions from Tortoise about how the Health and Growth programme prioritised waiting list times.
For Labour and Liberal Democrat voters, the NHS was the most important issue at the last election. How the government spends the £22 billion Reeves added to the health and social care budget could prove the single most important metric on which Labour is judged.
