News / Reports point the way to quality and saving

Reforms that would address health inequalities, social care, emergency admissions and cancer care could save the NHS more than £17bn a year, according to reports published in the last month.

The Marmot report, Fair society, healthy lives, said a concerted effort to tackle health inequalities could save the NHS in England £5.5bn a year – the amount associated with treating the direct consequences of health inequality.

The independent review, chaired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London, said the effects of health inequalities were not limited to the poorest in society; they affected all but the highest earners.

And it predicted an increase in the cost of treating illnesses that result from inequalities – treating obesity alone would rise from £2bn a year to nearly £5bn a year by 2025.

The report’s recommendations included ‘rebalancing’ public spending to support children in their early years and increasing the amount the NHS spends on preventing ill-health beyond the current level of 4%.

Sir Michael said: ‘There will be those who say our recommendations cannot be afforded, particularly in the current economic climate. We say that it is inaction that cannot be afforded; the economic and, more importantly, human costs are simply too high.’

Other reports added suggestions on how the NHS could improve quality and slash costs. In its annual report, the Care Quality Commission said NHS England would save up to £2bn a year if the number of older people repeatedly admitted to hospital as emergencies and their lengths of stay were reduced to the levels seen in the best performers.

The commission’s interim chair, Dame Jo Williams, called for more personalised care. ‘Trends such as increasing demand and rising expectations will be exacerbated by pressure on finances. That means we cannot go on as we are. To cope, we need radical changes in the way that we organise and deliver services,’ she said.

Meanwhile, think tank the Policy Exchange claimed the NHS could save £10bn and more than 71,000 lives by 2020 if cancer survival rates improved  to the best in Europe. A report from the University of Birmingham said £1.20 could be saved on emergency beds for every £1 spent on prevention in social care.