Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Accepted
Paragraph: 55
Short-term health pressures undermine long-term prevention strategies for creating healthy places.
Conclusion
Integrated Care Systems aim to enable a stronger focus on prevention, and on the specific approaches needed in different communities to help ensure that they are “healthy places”. But this is a long-term agenda. The mixed longer-term outcomes of initiatives such as Healthy New Towns demonstrate that building communities that protect good health is not something that can be accomplished through isolated programmes over a few years. The immediate pressures on health services are numerous and compelling, and there is already evidence that these are crowding out longer-term strategies including prevention. Because the numerous costs of “unhealthy places” fall so heavily on the health service, it is essential that the right systems, people and funding are in place for the long term to maintain a focus on prevention and protecting population health.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government agrees that much of what keeps us healthy lies outside the NHS and social care system and that creating healthy places and ensuring good health for all is essential to Levelling Up. DHSC is collaborating with DfT and Active Travel England to help deliver the Government’s cycling and walking plan. The Public Health England Healthy Places team transferred to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), within DHSC.
Paragraph Reference:
55
Government Response
The government responded to this report on 9 May 2024. No passage in that response could be matched to this conclusion. Read the response document ↗