What Resources Are Scarce In The Uk Healthcare System?

What Resources Are Scarce In The Uk Healthcare System
United Kingdom: health system review 2022 Four separate health care systems are responsible for delivering health services Since devolution in the late 1990s, the respective governments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been responsible for organising and delivering health care services.

United Kingdom residents enjoy access to a National Health Services (NHS) based on clinical need, and not ability to pay. In contrast, free access to social care services is means-tested, with different eligibility criteria across the nations of the United Kingdom. There are shortages of doctors, nurses and health care infrastructure The United Kingdom has relatively lower levels of both doctors and nurses, as well as lower levels of hospital beds and of diagnostic equipment, than most other high-income countries.

These shortages have left the country with little spare capacity and vulnerable to acute shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, they have led to growing waiting lists for elective care, with over 6 million people in England alone on a waiting list in 2022.

Health care financing provides high levels of protection against the financial consequences of ill health Historically, health spending in the United Kingdom has gone through cycles of sustained growth and austerity.
Nevertheless, total health expenditure has increased in the last decade, reaching just over 10% of GDP in 2019.

The proportion of public funding for health is high and has remained relatively unchanged over the last two decades, at around 80% of total health spending. Consequently, UK citizens enjoy high levels of protection against the financial consequences of ill health and minimal out-of-pocket payments.

Reforms are targeting greater integration of care and cross-sectoral partnerships that improve the health and well-being of local populations Several barriers persist across the four nations to facilitate meaningful integration between health care services, such as unlinked health information technology systems, duplication of governance arrangements and a lack of strategic planning.

Northern Ireland is the only United Kingdom constituent country where the NHS and social care are fully organisationally integrated, although efforts to promote such integration with cross-sectoral partnerships in England, Scotland and Wales have accelerated in recent years.

How are resources allocated in the UK healthcare system?

By Ruth Thorlby, Assistant Director, Policy, The Health Foundation All English residents are automatically entitled to free public health care through the National Health Service, including hospital, physician, and mental health care. The National Health Service budget is funded primarily through general taxation.

What are common barriers to healthcare in the UK?

All face multiple barriers affecting their access to healthcare such as lack of a permanent address, poor living and working conditions, isolation, uncertain immigration status, exploitation, language difficulties, poverty and hunger. The majority of patients at our UK clinics are migrants.

Does the NHS have enough resources?

Key messages –

Although data limitations mean that comparisons between countries should be treated with caution, international data provides valuable insight into key areas of expenditure and useful context for the debate about NHS funding.Our analysis of health care spending in 21 countries shows that the UK has fewer doctors and nurses per head of population than almost all the other countries we looked at. Only Poland has fewer of both.The UK has fewer magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scanners in relation to its population than any of the countries we analysed. Although this data should be treated with particular caution, it is clear that the UK lags a long way behind other high-performing health systems in investing in these important technologies.Of the countries we looked at, only Denmark and Sweden have fewer hospital beds per head of population than the UK, while the UK also has fewer beds in residential care settings than comparator countries. While lower numbers of hospital beds can be a sign of efficiency, the growing shortage of beds in UK hospitals indicates that bed reductions in the NHS may have gone too far.Although costs are rising, the UK spends less on medicines than most of the countries we analysed. A key reason for this is the success of initiatives to improve the value of expenditure on medicines, such as encouraging the use of generic drugs.Under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s new definition of health spending, the UK spends 9.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on health care. This in line with the average among the countries we looked at but is significantly less than countries such as Germany, France and Sweden, which spend at least 11 per cent of their GDP on health care.The picture that emerges from this analysis is that the NHS is under-resourced compared to other countries and lags a long way behind other high-performing health systems in many key areas of health care resources.

What are the top 3 health issues in the UK?

1. Main points –

The majority of the UK population (75.3% of men and 75.7% of women) reported being in good or very good health. Almost half of the UK population (45.7% of men and 50.1% of women) reported having a long-standing health problem; more women (22.3%) reported being limited (but not severely) in activities because of a health problem in the last six months than men (18.5%). The four most common chronic conditions in the UK for men and women were allergy, high blood pressure, low back disorder and depression; allergy was the most common reported chronic health condition in both men and women (30.4% and 36.0%, respectively). Around one in four (25.1%) women and one in five (18.4%) men reported experiencing a delay in getting health care in the past 12 months because the time needed to obtain an appointment was too long. Around 4 in 10 men (39.7%) and women (43.9%) had a healthy body mass index (BMI) score, ranging between 18.5 and 24.9; however, a greater proportion of men (37.9%) were overweight than women (29.3%), based on a BMI score ranging between 25 and 29.9. Around 3 in 10 men (27.9%) and one in four (24.1%) women reported drinking alcohol one to two days a week; while more men reported drinking alcohol every day or almost every day than women (8.8% and 4.7%, respectively), a greater proportion of women reported that they did not drink or had never had alcohol than men (16.6% and 12.6%, respectively). Around one in four women (23.1%) said they provide informal care or assistance compared with around one in six men (17.4%); 80.3% of men and 80.7% of women reported the informal care or assistance is provided to family members.

This release looks at the health of the UK population across a variety of health measures using age-standardised rates. Age-standardised rates allow comparisons between populations that may contain proportions of different ages. They are a better measure than simply looking at crude proportions, because they account for population size and age structure. Back to table of contents

What is the biggest threat to UK health?

Main findings –

Air pollution is the single biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, shortening tens of thousands of lives each year. After air pollution, noise causes the second highest pollution-related burden of disease in Europe, and is responsible for more life years lost than lead, ozone or dioxins. There is emerging evidence of health effects from lower levels of pollution, although these are not currently well understood. Antimicrobial resistant microbes are becoming more common in the environment due to contamination, meaning infectious illnesses may become harder to treat. Mental health conditions are increasing – they are the largest single cause of disability in the UK, and can be caused or affected by pollution, flooding and climate change. There is substantial and growing evidence for the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in the natural environment, but children are engaging less with nature. Exposure to pollution, and access to the natural environment are not equally distributed across society – people living in deprived areas often have poorer quality environments with less accessible green space. Equality of access to, and connection with, a healthy natural environment would save billions of pounds in healthcare costs and reduced economic activity every year. There are opportunities to improve health through the choices government, regulators, businesses and individuals make in creating and contributing to healthier, greener and more accessible environments.

Is the UK healthcare system efficient?

NHS among developed world’s most efficient health systems, says study – By Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk, August 7, 2011 The NHS is one of the most cost-effective health systems in the developed world, according to a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The “surprising” findings show the NHS saving more lives for each pound spent as a proportion of national wealth than any other country apart from Ireland over 25 years.
Among the 17 countries considered, the United States healthcare system was among the least efficient and effective.
Researchers said that this contradicted assertions by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, that the NHS needed competition and choice to become more efficient.

“The government proposals to change the NHS are largely based on the idea that the NHS is less efficient and effective than other countries, especially the US,” said Professor Colin Pritchard, of Bournemouth University, who analysed a quarter of a century’s data from 1980.

The results question why we need a big set of health reform proposals The system works well.
Look at the US and you can see where choice and competition gets you.
Pretty dismal results.” The study will be a blow for Lansley, who argues that patients should choose between competing hospital services and GPs.

Pritchard points out that even Adam Smith, the Scottish economist and father of market-based ideology, thought the state was “probably better” at health and education. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/07/nhs-among-most-efficient-health-services#history-link-box And

Why is demand for healthcare increasing UK?

Trends in healthcare and work – The trends affecting the nature of healthcare form an important context for how people services need to evolve in the coming years. The people profession will need to support the health and care service as it evolves, to meet a number of challenges. For example:

There is a rising demand for health services due to an ageing population with increasingly complex healthcare needs, People are living longer and, as they age, their healthcare needs change. The number of people living with long-term conditions is set to increase, with more individuals managing multiple conditions. Workforce supply challenges are expected to continue as demand rises. For the past decade, workforce growth has not kept up with the increasing demands on the NHS. Significant inequalities in life expectancy are likely to persist. These are linked to deep-rooted inequalities in how care is accessed, further perpetuating unequal outcomes for our patients. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused life expectancy to fall, and has further increased inequalities in mortality and the number of years lived in good health across the population. Health and care will need to be more joined up and co-ordinated, to provide an integrated approach that supports the whole person. To support the growing number of people with long-term conditions, the NHS will need to focus on breaking down traditional barriers between care organisations, teams and funding streams, rather than viewing each encounter with the health service as a single, unconnected episode of care. The role of the patient is likely to change, with more wanting support for self-care and prevention, and greater personalisation, so that their care focuses on the things that really matter to them. Individual preferences on type and location of care differ quite widely. With the right support, people of all ages can – and want to – take more control of how they manage their physical and mental wellbeing. Continued technological and scientific innovation is likely to change the nature of care and how it is delivered – including enabling care to be more personalised. This includes several key areas:

Technology is helping health and care professionals communicate better and enable people to access the care they need quickly and easily when it suits them. For example, devices and apps can support remote monitoring for patients, The increasing use of remote phone and video consultations is likely to continue, offering new and flexible ways for clinicians and patients to manage care and treatment together. The ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse large quantities of complex information has the potential to make a significant difference in health and care settings, including speeding up the detection of diseases. Continued scientific innovation, including through increased understanding and use of genomics, will enable faster and more accurate diagnoses for inherited and acquired diseases, which can lead to personalised and effective treatments and interventions.

There is a continuing need to take a proactive and preventative approach to health. This includes using population health management as a way of targeting prevention activity, to better support people to stay healthy and reduce health inequalities across entire populations.

Alongside this, the NHS and the people profession need to respond to the changing nature of work, including people’s expectations from their employment. Key trends, identified by external partners based on academic research and international trends, include:

Demographics within the workforce are changing. Working lives are lengthening as the UK population ages. As the UK state pension age rises, more older people will be in employment. By 2030, the number of economically active people aged 65 and over is projected to increase by one third. The UK is also now seeing emergence of a four-generational workforce (baby boomers, generation X, millennials and the first of generation Z). There is more competition for the workforce. The UK faces a labour shortage, linked to the ageing population, which results in more people leaving the jobs market than entering it. Alongside this, demand for health and care services is growing, also due to the ageing population, so a larger workforce will be needed. For example, Skills for Care has calculated that if the adult social care workforce grows proportionally to the projected number of people aged 65 and over in the population, the number of adult social care jobs will need to increase by 29% (480,000 jobs) – to around 2.16 million jobs by 2035.

There is likely to be increased global demand, too, with expectations that the expansion of global economic activity will increase the demand for educated labour. For example, the World Health Organization has stated that six million more nurses will be needed by 2030 to deliver the higher standards of healthcare needed once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.

People’s expectations of work are changing. What people value in a job is changing. People increasingly want ‘good work’ (a term used in the Taylor review referring to meaningful work where people have autonomy, feel their work makes a contribution and feel listened to). They also want to be able to balance their work more easily with other areas of their lives. These factors may become as important to individuals as levels of pay, reward and potential for career progression. There is an increase in non-linear careers rather than ‘careers for life’. People are continuing to work later in life, This shift is likely to lead to people having more stages in their career and perhaps making changes to new sectors or having ‘portfolio careers’, where they work in more than one area simultaneously. This, in turn, may lead to higher expectations of employers to make it easier for people to move in and out of roles, to create more opportunities for non-linear progression, and to show that it is still possible to work in health and care in the longer term while still enjoying a career that encompasses different roles and areas. Technological change is likely to reshape job and skills demands. As technology moves forwards, jobs are more likely to need technology skills. Advances in technology are likely to take over routine, repetitive tasks, allowing workers to reallocate their time to higher-productivity tasks that machines cannot do. This means that many roles will be reconfigured, rather than eliminated, and most occupations will need to reshape job roles. Technology can also free up opportunities for individuals, including providing greater flexibility in where and how they work. A continuous and agile approach to development and training is needed to keep pace with innovation and changing expectations. This may include the need for a more flexible training offer (such as modular training, apprenticeships or ‘earn while you learn’ approaches), as well as increasing training in new areas, such as digital. More is expected of employers on issues of inequalities and social justice. Organisations, particularly public sector organisations, will be expected to lead the way in tackling injustice and inequalities and demonstrably provide equal opportunities for all. Citizens also expect greater efforts to address climate change, with employers expected to play their part as well government and individuals.

By changing the way we work, the NHS and care partners have a chance to genuinely improve the lives of local populations. We can reach into our communities and reduce inequality, acting as ‘anchor institutions’ or ‘anchor networks’, Read more about how the NHS can use these strategies to build a healthy, sustainable post-COVID-19 recovery.

These changes will affect not only the way the people profession needs to lead and act, but how the whole health and care system will deliver.
Managers across the sector and at every level will need to play their part, to respond to these changes and use them as an opportunity to transform the experience that our people have at work.

View the next sections in this guide:

The vision for the future of the people profession Turning the vision into action Working together to make it happen Annexes

Who funds the UK healthcare system?

Current Healthcare System in UK The UK has a government-sponsored universal healthcare system called the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS consists of a series of publicly funded healthcare systems in the UK.

Why is there a shortage of healthcare professionals in the UK?

What’s Causing The Shortage of Healthcare Staff? – A few factors are contributing to the shortage of healthcare staff.

The Pandemic – Most figures indicate that there were already staff shortages even before the pandemic begun. But Covid-19 compounded things, leading to an immense backlog of care, There may simply be more patients and more procedures than the workforce can manage. Working conditions – Low pay, high pressure, and burnout from heavy workloads is causing many healthcare workers to quit. This is also why UK healthcare has seen industrial action in late 2022 and early 2023. Recruitment – Regular news stories about the dire conditions healthcare workers face may discourage many from starting a career in healthcare, Brexit also contributed to a substantial drop in healthcare workers coming to the UK from EU countries. Policies and Management – The government removed the nursing bursary in 2015. The Royal College of Nursing claim this was a key reason why nurse numbers dropped in the years leading up to the pandemic. Though the government would later partially reverse this policy, the damage may already be done.

What are resource barriers in health and social care?

Resource barriers can arise when there are shortages in staff, beds, medication, facilities or long waiting lists. What are the other barriers linked to resources? Lack of information. Opening times. Specialist staff.

What are the main factors affecting current patterns of health in the UK?

Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use are leading risk factors driving the UK’s high burden of preventable ill health and premature mortality.

Is there a shortage of NHS?

NHS staff shortages in England could exceed 570,000 by 2036, leaked document warns The NHS in needs a massive injection of homegrown doctors, nurses, GPs and dentists to avert a recruitment crisis that could leave it short of 571,000 staff, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.

A long-awaited workforce plan produced by England says the health service is already operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, and that number could balloon to 571,000 staff by 2036 on current trends. The 107-page blueprint, which is being examined by ministers, sets out detailed proposals to end the understaffing that has plagued the health service for years.

It says that without radical action, the NHS in England will have 28,000 fewer, 44,000 fewer community nurses and an even greater lack of paramedics within 15 years. It suggests that the NHS will not be able to cope with the increasing demand for care that will arise in coming years as a result of the growing and ageing population.

Services in rural areas, which already struggle to attract enough staff, will be left unable to give patients – especially older people – the help and treatment they need, it warns.
NHS England also makes clear in the blueprint its view, which is widely shared by health experts and staff groups, that the government must ditch its reliance on hiring more and more overseas health professionals and spending billions of pounds a year on temporary staff.

A that the NHS was operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs – far more than the official figure of 124,000. In a thinly veiled plea to ministers to kickstart an ambitious programme to give the NHS enough personnel, it added: “Without any intervention or improvement in productivity, the workforce shortfall will grow to 571,000 full-time equivalents by 2036/37.” Those 571,000 staff are the equivalent of more than a third (37%) of the service’s existing 1.6 million-strong workforce.

However, the Guardian understands that the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is playing a key role in behind-the-scenes moves by the Treasury to water down NHS England’s proposals to double the number of doctors that the UK trains and increase the number of new nurses trained every year by 77% – because it would cost several billion pounds to do that.

His stance has led to a standoff with his cabinet colleague Steve Barclay, who is backing the plan. The health secretary believes that while NHS England’s projections are ambitious, they are also a realistic assessment of the dramatic scale of action needed to eradicate the severe staff shortages that are hampering the NHS’s ability to meet waiting time targets for A&E care, cancer treatment and surgery, and endangering the quality and safety of care that patients receive.

A senior NHS leader said: “Jeremy Hunt has been very resistant to the numbers in the workforce plan.
The Treasury and Hunt don’t want numbers in it.
They want it to be not very precise.
They want the numbers to be projected in a different way that would be less expensive and to not commit to training specific numbers of doctors, nurses and others.

“While intellectually Hunt gets it, and emotionally he gets the patient safety argument, it seems that his priority, if the government has any financial headroom, is to use that for tax cuts or giving the army more money rather than training more doctors, nurses and speech and language therapists.

The Department of and Social Care (DHSC) are flying the flag for the plan and what’s needed.
Steve Barclay wants the plan to move forward.
But there’s some significant pushback from the Treasury and from the chancellor himself.” Hunt is balking at the cost of taking forward NHS England’s proposals.
The document says that while the UK currently has 7,500 medical school places, double that – 15,000 – is required.

Similarly, the number of trainee GPs in England needs to jump from 4,000 to 6,000 and the annual supply of nurses to increase from 29,865 to 52,722 – a 77% uplift. The plan also says that the number of dentists needs to rise by 40%, and of physiotherapists and their allied health professionals by 20%.

The NHS needs to increase the overall number of all types of health professionals it trains from 66,032 to 102,484, a 55% rise, the document concludes.
It is due to be published shortly, once the disagreement over its contents has been resolved.
Hunt’s stance is in contrast to his enthusiastic backing, while chair of the Commons health select committee, for a massive expansion of the NHS workforce and publication of regular projections for how many staff of different types it needed to keep pace with the growing burden of illness.

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After newsletter promotion The plan raises major concerns about the use of temporary staff to ensure safe staffing levels in hospitals.
Spending on bank and agency staff has risen by 51% and 26% respectively since 2020, it says.
Use of agency staff is expensive and offers poor value for money for the taxpayer.” It also cites “increasing evidence that use of temporary staffing – particularly agency staff – can have a negative impact on patient and staff experience, and continuity of care.” It also voices unease about the recent surge in the number of overseas workers in the NHS.

They now account for one in six of the workforce – double the number in 2014. “International recruitment has supported necessary increases in some staff groups, such as doctors and nurses, but does not offer a universal solution to rising workforce demand,” the plan says.

Opposition parties accused the Conservatives of leaving the NHS unable to do its job properly by doing too little about NHS understaffing for years. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “This is a national emergency. The NHS is experiencing the worst workforce crisis in its history and it is crying out for the government to act.

Until the Conservatives admit they have failed to train enough staff, patients will continue to wait too long for the care they need.” Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson, said: “Our NHS is already struggling to recruit and retain the staff it desperately needs but these future projections should be a wake-up call to a Conservative government that continues to sit on its hands.

Those dedicated NHS workers that turn up day in, day out need to know that the cavalry is coming.” Anita Charlesworth, the director of research at the Health Foundation thinktank, said: “Around half of newly recruited NHS doctors and nurses are currently trained overseas – in the long term this is unsustainable and unethical in the context of a global shortage of medical staff.

“Relying on agency staff to plug gaps pushes up the cost of care, a prime example of the inefficiency resulting from the Treasury’s failure to spend on training new staff. The NHS workforce plan must set out comprehensive, long-term measures to recruit and retain the domestically trained staff needed by the NHS, and commit the funding to pay for this.”

A government spokesperson said: “We’re growing the healthcare workforce, recruiting 50,000 more nurses and we have almost hit our target of delivering 26,000 additional primary care staff.
“The NHS will soon publish a long-term workforce plan to support and grow the workforce.”
A DHSC source said: “We are driving forward progress to recruit more staff into the NHS to help treat patients more quickly, with more than 4,800 doctors and almost 10,900 more nurses compared to a year ago.”

: NHS staff shortages in England could exceed 570,000 by 2036, leaked document warns

How does the economic environment affect the NHS?

How does this affect the NHS and social care? – The current economic turmoil has implications for the NHS and social care system. The Institute for Fiscal Studies published its green budget on 11 October arguing that stabilising public sector debt as a fraction of national income by 2026/27 (a key test for #soundmoney) would require a fiscal tightening of around £60bn.

The Chancellor has announced major changes to the mini-budget tax and energy support proposals reducing that gap.
But there is still a gap and he has signalled that further difficult decisions need to be made at the main fiscal event (now planned for 17 November).
This would almost certainly include another round of spending cuts at a time when all the pressures are to increase spending.

The NHS has a funding settlement up to 2024/25. Spending this year is expected to be just over £150bn, rising in cash terms to £162bn in 2024/25. At its Board meeting in October NHS England published its analysis of NHS finances. They argue that the NHS budget is about £6–7bn short of what is needed to maintain services.

Who has the best NHS in the world?

Switzerland. Switzerland comes top of the Euro Health Consumer Index 2018, and it’s firmly above the eleven-country average in the Commonwealth Fund’s list too. There are no free, state-run services here – instead, universal healthcare is achieved by mandatory private health insurance and some government involvement.

What is the biggest health inequality in UK?

Major study outlines wide health inequalities in England Unfortunately, your browser is too old to work on this website. Please upgrade your browser

A 60-year-old woman in the poorest areas of England has a level of ‘diagnosed illness’ equivalent to that of a 76-year-old woman in the wealthiest areas, according to new research by the Health Foundation. While a 60-year-old man in the poorest areas of England will on average have a level of diagnosed illness equivalent to that of a 70- year-old man in the wealthiest areas.

People living in the most deprived parts of England are diagnosed with serious illness earlier and die sooner than their peers in more affluent areas, a major new finds. The Health Foundation, an independent charity, calls on the next Prime Minister to prioritise action to reduce health inequalities – citing polling from Public First that finds this is a key issue for 2019 Tory voters in red wall areas especially.

Previous studies into the extent of health inequalities in England have largely relied on people’s self-reported health. This new analysis uses linked hospital and primary care data to examine socioeconomic, regional and ethnic variations in the prevalence of diagnosed long-term illnesses.

For most of their lives, people in the poorest areas of England, on average, have more diagnosed illness over 10 years earlier than those in the richest areas.
While inequality in life expectancy is greater for men than for women, women face greater disparity in the amount of time spent with diagnosed illness. On average, a 60-year-old woman in the poorest areas of England will have a level of diagnosed long-term illness equivalent to that of a 76-year-old woman in the wealthiest areas.
A woman living in the poorest areas has a life expectancy five years shorter than those in the wealthiest areas. She will spend more than half (44 years) of her shorter life in ill health compared to 46% (41 years) for a woman in the wealthiest areas.
A 60-year-old man in the poorest areas of England will on average have a level of diagnosed illness equivalent to that of a 70-year-old man in the wealthiest areas. He will be expected to live up to the age of 78, dying nine years earlier than someone in the wealthiest areas (87).

The socioeconomic inequality in life expectancy for men is such that, despite spending a greater share of their lives with diagnosed illness (46% compared with 44%), men in the most deprived areas spend less time living with diagnosed illness (36 years compared with 38 years in the least deprived areas).

The analysis also looks in detail at:

Age: Children and young people in poorer areas (the under 20s) are much more likely to be living with conditions such as asthma, epilepsy, and to experience alcohol problems, while people in their 20s see diagnosed chronic pain, alcohol problems and anxiety and depression. From 30 onwards, disparities in diabetes, COPD and cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates grow and overtake anxiety and depression, although there is still growing inequality in chronic pain and alcohol problems. In older age, these health inequalities manifest through inequalities in chronic pain, COPD, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.
Ethnicity: The analysis also finds significant ethnic disparities in diagnosed illness. People from Pakistani, Bangladeshi and black Caribbean backgrounds are found to have higher levels of long-term illness than the white population, once the data had been standardised for age. People from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds have the highest age-standardised rates of diagnosed chronic pain, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, the white population has the highest levels of diagnosed anxiety or depression, and alcohol problems. White people are also more likely to be living with cancer. The study’s authors note that this could be due to the increased survival rates associated with cancers that are more prevalent in this group and due to more diagnoses resulting from greater access to cancer screening in the white population.
Region: people living in the North East and North West have the highest health care needs due to long-term illness once the data had been standardised for age. In the North East particularly, there are high levels of diagnosed chronic pain and alcohol problems. These issues are important for voters in ‘red wall’ areas. Separate for the Health Foundation, published in July, finds that 37% of 2019 Conservatives voters would be less likely to vote Conservative if the government drops its manifesto commitment to reduce life expectancy inequalities.

What is the biggest problem facing healthcare?

1. The High Cost of Health Care – The problem: Perhaps the most pressing issue in health care currently is the high cost of care. More than 45% of American adults say it’s difficult to afford health care, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, and more than 40% have medical debt.

The cost of health care changes people’s behavior, with many forgoing seeing a doctor when they feel sick or avoiding preventive health visits entirely.
A quarter of Americans can’t afford necessary prescriptions and may skip doses or otherwise not take medication as prescribed.
Each of these behaviors can lead to serious health issues, increasing the cost of care down the road.

The solution: Cutting the cost of care involves the input and actions of the health care industry, insurers, and state and federal government agencies. Current initiatives focus on a commitment to reducing insurance premiums and instituting comprehensive price caps for service.

What is currently the biggest cause of health related absence in the UK?

Working days lost, 2021/22 – Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS) self-reported estimates” data-color-scheme=”pink”>


Workplace injuries and ill health	Estimated working days lost
Work-related ill health	30.8
Non-fatal workplace injuries	6.0

ul> Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health in 2021/22, 17.0 million and 7.3 million respectively. On average, each person suffering took around 16.5 days off work. This varies as follows:

10.6 days for Injuries 17.2 days for Ill health cases 18.6 days for Stress, depression or anxiety 15.2 days for Musculoskeletal disorders

What is the biggest killer of females in the UK?

Mortality rates for the main causes of death – The cancer mortality rate for people of all ages in England in 2021 was 248 per 100,000 population, higher than the rate for cardiovascular diseases (230 per 100,000). COVID-19 remained a leading cause of death in England in 2021, with a rate of 117 per 100,000 for people of all ages, for deaths due to COVID-19.

This was higher than the rate of 106 per 100,000 for deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Male mortality rates for all ages in England in 2021 were higher than female rates for cancer (by 41%), for cardiovascular disease (by 60%) and for COVID-19 (by 62%), however the male rate for dementia and Alzheimer’s was 18% lower than the female rate.

While the mortality rate for COVID-19 was higher than the rate for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease for males in 2021, the reverse was true for females. The Mortality Profile shows how the northern regions of England have the highest mortality rates in 2021.

For deaths of people of all ages, the North East had the highest mortality rates for all causes, all cancers, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, stroke and liver disease.
The North West had the highest rates for all cardiovascular diseases, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and respiratory disease, while Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest rate for heart disease.

The geographical pattern was different for deaths due to COVID-19. The rate for people of all ages was highest in London in 2021 (166 per 100,000 population), more than double than the South West, the region with the lowest rate (70 per 100,000 population).

For some other causes, including all cancers, colorectal cancer, and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, London had the lowest mortality rates in 2021 for people of all ages. The South East had the lowest rates for lung cancer and heart disease, while the East of England had the lowest rates for all cardiovascular diseases, stroke and liver disease.

Besides having the lowest rate for all causes, the South West also had the lowest mortality rate for respiratory diseases.

What are the 5 big killers?

This week, a major study revealed that despite some progress, the UK is falling far behind neighbouring countries in preventing deaths among those under 75, known as premature mortality. The research published by the Lancet, and based on analysis of data from the Global Burden of Disease Study, found that between 1999 and 2010, life expectancy in the UK increased by 4.2 years.

However, when compared with other European countries and the US, the UK lagged behind in the rate of decline for premature mortality, from several preventable conditions.
These conditions have continued to be the leading causes of premature death in the UK over the past 20 years, and include non-communicable diseases commonly known as the ‘five big killers’ – namely cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and liver disease.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says: “Despite real progress in cutting deaths we remain a poor relative to our global cousins on many measures of health, something I want to change. “For too long we have been lagging behind and I want the reformed health system to take up this challenge and turn this shocking underperformance around.” To address this, the Department of Health (DH) launched a new strategy this week to tackle the causes of preventable mortality.

What factors affect health in the UK?

Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use are leading risk factors driving the UK’s high burden of preventable ill health and premature mortality. All are socioeconomically patterned and contribute significantly to widening health inequalities.

What are barriers to health promotion UK?

Results – All GPs and PNs said they discuss lifestyle with their patients. Next to this, GPs and PNs counsel patients, and/or refer them to other disciplines. Only few said they refer patients to specific lifestyle programs or interventions in their own practice or in the neighbourhood.

Several barriers and facilitators were identified.
The main topics as barriers are: a lack of patients’ motivation to make lifestyle changes, insufficient reimbursement, a lack of proven effectiveness of interventions and a lack of overview of health promoting programs in their neighbourhood.
The most cited facilitators are availability of a PN, collaboration with other disciplines and availability of interventions in their own practice.

With respect to attitudes, six different types of GPs were identified reflecting the main topics that relate to attitudes, varying from ‘ignorer’ to ‘nurturer’. The topics relating to PNs attitudes towards health promotion activities, were almost unanimously positive.

What are the challenges faced by care homes in the UK?

Abstract – Care homes are an increasingly important part of the UK’s healthcare system. Despite their importance, particularly in providing care for older people with complex needs, the sector is often disadvantaged and overlooked by commissioners, policymakers and researchers.

The authors provide an overview of some important challenges for the sector.
These challenges relate to funding, education and research, overseas staff, career pathways and staff recruitment and retention.
They conclude that recruitment and retention of registered nurses is arguably the greatest challenge, as high staff turnover is the catalyst for other challenges identified.

The care home sector should be considered as equal to hospitals, community settings and hospices. Care homes offer registered nurses many opportunities for development of clinical and organisational skills. Keywords: care homes; independent sector; nursing homes; older people; recruitment and retention; safe staffing.

What are the barriers to healthcare migrants UK?

What can I do with this? – I am a person with lived experience of this issue: You can use this summary to better understand rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants to basic healthcare in the UK. I work with refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants: You can use this summary to better understand and support those affected to overcome barriers to getting basic healthcare.

I work in healthcare: You can use this study to ensure that you and your colleagues are aware of these barriers and show empathy towards refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants who seek healthcare from the NHS.
I am a researcher: You can use this study as a reference to produce new research that includes direct views of refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants and reflect stories of people with lived experience.

I am a policy-maker: You can use this study to call for the UK government to recognize health as a fundamental human right and develop inclusive social policies that would allow refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants equitable access to health and social services.