NHS productivity is often framed as working harder or doing more work.

This is the wrong perspective and a harmful one that makes achieving productivity improvement harder...

A child wearing a yellow hazmat suit, that functions as loungewear, standing in front of a black background with the text "Hazmat Loungewear" and "Because 1 in 4 Brits live in homes that could make them ill" displayed.

Every child deserves a good-quality, warm, and safe home.

But children across the UK are growing up with damp, cold and mould in their homes — putting their health on the line.

They shouldn’t need a hazmat suit to stay healthy at home. Help us call for real solutions. 👉https://bit.ly/4nHViVo

Two food bank volunteers hold signs in front of Big Ben. The first sign reads, "3.8 million kids face hunger in the UK" and the second sign states, "Two child cap pushes 100 kids into poverty every day!"

ICYMI: the two-child benefit limit is the single biggest driver of child poverty in the UK, pushing hundreds of families into hardship EVERY DAY.

Fully removing it would lift 470,000 children out of severe hardship. It's the moral thing to do.

Putting patients at the heart of cardiovascular reform  - Richmond Group

🆕 Yesterday, we published a guest blog for the Richmond Group, making the case for patient involvement in the upcoming reform of heart care 🫀

Read it here 🔗 www.richmondgroupofcharities.org.uk/publications...

The NHS – a Suitable Case for Treatment? - Policy Exchange Download Publication Online Reader ‘The NHS – a Suitable Case for Treatment?’ makes the case that the NHS is not fit for purpose and is in urgent need of reform.The report finds that NHS performance r...

Policy exchange, backed by Sajid Javid, think we need to switch the NHS funding model to social insurance, and introduce new charges for NHS services, like to see a GP

policyexchange.org.uk/publication/...

These are not new ideas, but they are bad ideas

A thread with some evidence

🧵Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for 25% of UK premature deaths.

Up to 80% of these deaths are preventable.

It’s estimated that the burden of CVD costs £29 billion each year.

But CVD prevention is not currently being prioritised by the government at the scale needed.

The NHs 10-year plan is magpie's nest of bright, shiny ideas. If you judge it by whether the balance of ideas is good or bad, you miss the critical point...

Been a busy week for health policy with the launch of the 10-Year Plan. Excited to nerd out over the details in the coming days.

We’ve pulled together some initial thoughts on what the plan means for cardiovascular health - one for your weekend reading list!

⬇️

You can't upgrade the nation's health without tackling cardiovascular disease (CVD), one of the UK's biggest killers.

Today, the Government announced a 10 Year Health Plan in England which sets the direction for the NHS for the next decade.

Fourth time lucky?!

Why am I hopeful that this time, a promise of review might lead to actual change?

🧵👇

UK air pollution killing more than 500 people a week, doctors say Royal College of Physicians also says poor air quality costs country more than £500m a week Air pollution in the UK is costing more than £500m a week in ill health, NHS care and productivity losses, with 99% of the population breathing in “toxic air”, doctors have said. Dirty air is killing more than 500 people a week, with health harm to almost every organ of the body caused by air pollution, even at low concentrations, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said. Continue reading...

UK air pollution killing more than 500 people a week, doctors say

So we've had the Spending Review and the 10 Year Plan is due soon. But what about a *cross government* plan for health?

My blog hoping that the govt rediscovers some of the ambition and breadth of the original health mission.

www.health.org.uk/features-and...

Spending review leaves a greater need for clarity on healthcare priorities The notion that the health service has emerged as a “winner” from the chancellor’s spending review is a bit like congratulating someone who has just won back the face value of a scratch card. It certa...

The government has set the NHS’s budget for the next 3 years, now it needs to be realistic about its priorities - my comment piece in the BMJ:

www.bmj.com/content/389/...

Observed and hidden factors underlying the accumulation of chronic diseases across eight major organ systems: a longitudinal birth cohort study Measured and unmeasured life-course factors explain up to three-quarters of chronic disease accumulation across systems, with the remainder probably influenced by chance. Key modifiable drivers includ...

Excellent contribution to the what % of outcomes are attributable to x, y, z

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Measured & unmeasured life-course factors explain up to 74% of chronic disease accumulation

Clinical
Lifestyle (term used advisedly!)
Early life
Socioeconomic
All the above interacts
1

I previously mentioned on here that the Supreme Court judgement on sex under the EA2010 will have caused much confusion about the rights of trans people - thankfully @transactualuk.bsky.social have produced this excellent resource to help transactual.org.uk/know-your-ri...

🧵 20-40% of the population are living with multiple long-term conditions, this is a number that’s set to grow. But siloed funding flows and current models of care are set up to treat individual conditions, rather than taking a holistic view of a patient and their conditions.

Six investment priorities to support better mental health: 1. Enable health visitors to support new mothers’ mental health. 2. Roll out evidence-based parenting programmes. 3. Expand the network of early support hubs for young people. 4. Expand offers within the NHS Talking Therapies Programme. 5. Expand Individual Placement and Support employment services. 6. Provide alternatives to hospital admission in a mental health crisis.

By investing in what works, the Government can turn the tide on poor mental health.
With @nhsconfed.org's Mental Health Network, we've set out six key areas for investment, backed by economic evidence, which would boost the nation’s mental health 👇
tinyurl.com/ypjusv3z #InvestInMentalHealth

❤️‍🩹 | NEW REPORT: Voters want bold action on health – and don’t see it as 'nanny statism'. Our new research with Public First shows that smarter public health policy isn’t just good for the nation – it could be a vote-winner too.

www.ippr.org/articles/the...

Bridging Hearts: Addressing inequalities in cardiovascular health and care report BHF’s Health Insights and Policy and Public Affairs teams have published a report which considers how level of deprivation, sex and ethnicity can impact a person’s cardiovascular health.

NEW 📣

In our new report, Bridging Hearts, @bhfpolicy.bsky.social call for urgent action from the Government and health system to tackle health inequalities. 🫀

Read it here: www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/o...

Great to see @bhfpolicy.bsky.social calling for a health inequalities strategy as part of the fight against cardiovascular health inequalities.

thank you for the support Joe!

🆕 Out today, our new report 'Bridging Hearts' explores the inequalities which exist in cardiovascular risk, outcomes and care across 3 lenses: deprivation, sex and ethnicity.

We set out action that Govt and the health system should take to drive better outcomes for all 🫀

bhf.org.uk/-/media/file...

Trans People And The NHS: The Heat Of The Debate Needs The Light Of Evidence | The King's Fund Frank Rigby highlights the glaring lack of evidence on trans health care, and calls for more data and patient stories to inform policy decisions.

Today marks International Transgender Day of Visibility. Last month we explored the glaring lack of evidence on trans health care, and called for more data and patient stories to inform policy decisions. Read the blog. buff.ly/9ByMgh8

The Chancellor said today that she would not do anything to put household finances in danger

Yet the government’s own assessment shows their cuts to health related benefits risk pushing 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children 📢

Their assessment also found... 1/3

Senior Public Affairs Officer | British Heart Foundation Do you have previous public affairs experience delivering change for a cause? Would you like to make a difference at one of the country's largest charities taking on one of the UK's biggest killers? ...

📣 Our Policy & Public Affairs team is hiring!

We’re looking for a Senior Public Affairs Officer to join our award-winning team. 🏆

If you have proven experience of working in Parliament, in a public affairs team or a public affairs consultancy, apply below 👇
jobs.bhf.org.uk/vacancies/18...

Our Next Generation Network events, exclusively for our members, partners & #HWAlliance members, provide a space for those in the first 5 years of their career in the VCSE sector to learn & network.

Read a 🧵from our Senior Policy and External Affairs Officer, @lucysey.bsky.social to find out more 👇

The Reshaping Of NHS National Bodies Has Only Just Started. How Will It Finish? | The King's Fund Following the announcement that NHS England is to be abolished, Siva Anandaciva considers the implications and why at the moment there are more questions than answers.

Great, insightful analysis of the abolishment of NHS England and the halving of the DHSC/NHSE centre
@thekingsfund.bsky.social

www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

How racism affects health We identify ways in which racism operates within the everyday structures of our society – the labour market, housing systems and lived environment – and limits people’s opportunity to be healthy.

Our new report with the @healthfoundation.bsky.social shows how structural racism operates across our labour market, housing systems and the lived environment, limiting a person’s opportunity to be healthy.

Read it here 👇 www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/how-racism-affects-health

Today, we’ve launched a consensus statement, signed by over 45 leading organisations across the CVD sector, calling on the Govt to commit to a National Cardiovascular Disease Plan.

🔗 www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/p...

Today the ONS have published new estimates of UK healthcare productivity. They estimate that productivity has declined substantially, while last week NHS England estimated that English acute hospital productivity has increased. What’s going on? A short thread