The Health Foundation podcast (The Health Foundation)
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| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
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| 21 Oct 2020 | 1: How to be health secretary - Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP and Nick Timmins | 00:36:11 | |
The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP talks to Health Foundation chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon about his tenure as the longest-serving health secretary.
They are joined by award-winning author Nicholas Timmins, writer of the Health Foundation book, Glaziers and window breakers, which includes interviews with 11 former health secretaries together with original analysis. A new edition of the book, featuring the full interview with Jeremy Hunt, is now available to download, read online or order. Useful links: | |||
| 22 Nov 2020 | 2: What should nanny do next? The government and obesity – with Dame Sally Davies, Harry Rutter and James Forsyth | 00:31:26 | |
Obesity in the UK is on the up. Prevalence of obesity is higher in more deprived communities, and obesity is linked to a range of health conditions – as well as increasing a person’s risk from COVID-19.
Evidence tells us that communities, government policies, commercial influences, and many other factors shape our ability to be healthy – but people often think it’s up to individuals to manage their own weight.
Some governments are squeamish about intervention in people’s lives leading to a so-called ‘nanny state’. However, recent polling by Ipsos MORI for the Health Foundation shows that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way that people in the UK view the government’s role in improving our health. So what should the Government be doing to tackle obesity?
Useful links: | |||
| 22 Dec 2020 | 3: After the COVID storm: where next for the NHS? – with Nick Timmins and Dame Jackie Daniel | 00:31:18 | |
What happens when the emergency phase of COVID is over? Has the pandemic set health and social care on a new course or will most things snap back to the way they were before?
In a global emergency we have to deal with the short term first, but what’s the long-term path for the NHS in particular? And what are the deeper threats and opportunities we should be thinking about?
In this episode, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by two expert guests:
Useful links:
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| 22 Jan 2021 | 4: 'Deaths of despair': A tale of two countries – with Professor Sir Angus Deaton and Sarah O'Connor | 00:33:06 | |
Life expectancy is a key indicator of our health and wellbeing. Across most OECD countries in the last ten years, life expectancy has been stalling – and stalling most in the US and the UK.
Last March, Professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton, two distinguished economists from Princeton University, published what became the must-read book of the year. That book was called Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism. It showed that health has deteriorated fastest in middle-aged white Americans, and that in this population, death rates from all causes are actually rising. The biggest increases were in deaths from suicide, drugs and alcohol driven by a lack of opportunity, growing inequalities, and bleak social and economic outlook. The so-called ‘deaths of despair’. In the meantime, here in the UK, The Marmot Review: 10 Years On was published last February looking at national health trends in England. The review revealed stalling growth in life expectancy nationally – and a reversal among people living in the poorer areas of England, in particular women. Is this due to the public spending cuts of recent years, or a long-term structural trend? What needs to be done? And might the pandemic accelerate solutions? In this episode, our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by two expert guests:
Useful links:
Recommended reading: | |||
| 22 Feb 2021 | 5: Do we care enough? – with Madeleine Bunting and Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty | 00:31:36 | |
We all need care at some point in our lives – when we’re young, when we’re ill and when we grow older. And caring calls for many of the qualities at the very core of what it is to be human: empathy, compassion, selflessness and commitment.
And yet care is so often undervalued, skimped on, commoditised or ignored. Examples of that indifference are everywhere: at home, in the NHS and in social care. And just at a time when the need for care is growing fast, many commentators feel that we have is a ‘crisis of care’.
Why is that? And what can be done about it?
In the latest episode of our podcast, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon discusses this issue with:
Useful links: | |||
| 22 Mar 2021 | 6: President Biden’s uphill task on US health care – with Dr David Blumenthal and Professor Ashish Jha | 00:34:18 | |
The new Biden administration has a lot to deal with in the next four years: the US economy, the environment, public services and infrastructure, and healing America’s cultural and political divisions. Then there's health, inequalities and ensuring the US’s recovery from the pandemic.
On health and care alone there’s a long list of wrongs to right, and progress to make. The recent Lancet Commission report Public policy in the Trump era was searingly critical on President Trump’s legacy – not just in managing the pandemic, but in reversing progress on covering uninsured Americans, and much more.
But what can the Biden administration really do on health and health care? What will be its priorities? And what lessons might there be for us in the UK, as ideas so often seed from across the Atlantic?
In the latest episode of our podcast, Health Foundation Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses these issues with two US health policy experts:
Useful links: | |||
| 21 Apr 2021 | 7: Wising up to levelling up – with Professor Diane Coyle and Sir Howard Bernstein | 00:38:33 | |
‘Levelling up’ has become an earworm. It featured highly in the Conservative manifesto in 2019, which was referring to improving infrastructure, skills, productivity and economic growth across the country. The idea is to make the UK economy less lop-sided, and less focused on London and the South East.
The aim of ‘levelling up’ has gained even more potency because of the pandemic. For those working in health, policies to level up might also help tackle avoidable inequalities set out by Marmot and others, caused by factors injuring health like poor housing, low quality work, and low skills. In short, poverty and deprivation.
But the government’s levelling up strategy is still under construction. The recently announced Levelling Up Fund is mainly focused on basic infrastructure like transport, not health.
So is levelling up a real and serious aspiration? What would a strategy look like that might also help reduce health inequalities?
In the latest episode of our podcast, our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses these issues with two expert guests:
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| 21 May 2021 | 8: Inside the teen mind: what’s happening to mental health? – with Jean Twenge and Yvonne Kelly | 00:35:19 | |
The pandemic has created profound challenges for young people over the past year – with education, work, relationships and social time all affected.
We also know about the wider economic trends which pile pressure on teens to make it to college to have a better job in the future, and the social trends which might undermine their security as they transition from child to adult. Combined with big changes in how young people are living their lives – such as a huge increase in the use of social media – it’s perhaps unsurprising that we’ve seen trends of increasing levels of depression, self harm, anxiety, eating disorders and other mental health issues in teens. In the latest episode of our podcast, our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses these issues with two expert guests:
Reading materials referenced in this episode:
Useful links: | |||
| 21 Jun 2021 | 9: Is it time for another Wanless Review? – with Anita Charlesworth and Nick Macpherson | 00:39:24 | |
It’s easy to forget the state the NHS was in 20 years ago – long waiting lists, heartrending delays in care, winter crises – and heated debate on whether the NHS model was obsolete.
But the Wanless Review set the NHS on course to receive record catch up funding. So in this episode, we ask, given the pandemic and the mounting challenges facing the NHS to deal with a huge backlog of care, is it time for another Wanless?
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses this with two expert guests and former Treasury officials, who were very close to the original Wanless Review:
Useful links:
A note on audio quality in this episodeUnfortunately, we were unable to record this episode using our normal recording platform, so the audio quality is lower than we would like. We'll be back recording the podcast in our normal way next episode.
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| 22 Jul 2021 | 10: Low life expectancy in Glasgow, and what to do about it – with Dr David Walsh and Sir Harry Burns | 00:35:50 | |
If you think of health in the UK as a fabric, it is the most threadbare in Glasgow.
Here, life expectancy is lowest, and one in four men will die before their sixty-fifth birthday. But even after adjusting for poverty and deprivation, next to comparable deindustrialised cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, Glaswegians have a 30% risk of dying prematurely. That’s from cancer heart disease stroke as well as deaths of despair: suicide, drugs alcohol. It isn’t getting any better, and that’s not even taking into account the pandemic.
In this episode, we explore:
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses this with two expert guests who have for many years been central to this story:
Recommended reading:
Useful links:
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| 21 Aug 2021 | 11: We are what we eat: Food, health and inequality – with Anna Taylor and Sarah Hickey | 00:35:28 | |
Food is crucial to our health, but it is also a driver of ill health, health inequalities, and damage to the environment.
The second part of the National Food Strategy, led by Henry Dimbleby, was published in July 2021. It is the most comprehensive review of the entire food and drink system in the UK for many years. It recognises the upsides of the food system in providing affordable, convenient food for a growing population. But it is strong on the downsides – the current system is unsustainable and the food produced and consumed is injuring health and the environment.
The strategy made 14 radical recommendations for England’s food system – many requiring legislation. The government is currently reviewing the report and is due to produce a White Paper in early 2022.
In this podcast, we discuss two areas covered by the review – reducing the amount of junk food, and diet-related inequality – as well as viewing this alongside the government’s 2020 obesity strategy. What should the government do next to make a difference to these large and complex challenges?
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses this with two expert guests:
Related content | |||
| 28 Sep 2021 | 12: The most challenging job in the country: Being chief executive of the NHS – with Sir Alan Langlands | 00:46:19 | |
Being chief executive of the NHS is one of the most challenging jobs in the country.
Since the role started in 1985 there have been nine postholders, with Amanda Pritchard taking over from Sir Simon Stevens this year. Like her predecessors she faces formidable challenges ahead: managing the pandemic’s impact, tackling waiting lists, boosting technology, managing a growing population of older people with multiple conditions and dealing with workforce shortages to name a few.
The role means being a leader and a national figure, working with the NHS itself as well as with government, the media and the wider health sector.
The bandwidth needed to do the job is huge. How is it doable?
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses with Sir Alan Langlands, NHS chief executive number four, from 1994–2000. After leaving the NHS, Alan went onto a number of roles including Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Dundee, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council, Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds and chair of the Health Foundation (2009–2017). Related content
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| 28 Oct 2021 | 13: How can the green agenda help the health agenda? – with Dr Fiona Godlee and Professor Andy Haines | 00:38:07 | |
Climate change is a global health emergency. What can we learn from how ‘green’ has gone up the agenda? And how might we apply useful lessons to getting further improvements in another complex and difficult challenge – improving the health of the UK population and reducing inequalities?
The increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves, floods, droughts and storms is already devastating lives and livelihoods around the world. While other countries are far more vulnerable to the health risks of climate change, the UK is not immune.
The UK government and the health and social care system must actively contribute to climate change solutions as part of our global responsibility. In the weeks ahead the UK (along with Italy as a partner) will host COP26, and countries will be showing what action they are taking towards the Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming.
Making progress on climate change will be very challenging. Like improving health, it is a complex problem needing long-term policy commitment and action. What can we learn from efforts and progress so far? And can going greener actually improve the health of people in the UK?
In the latest episode of our podcast, our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses these issues with two expert guests:
Useful links:
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| 22 Nov 2021 | 14: Are we seeing the decline of general practice, or its rebirth? – with Professor Katherine Checkland, Dr Rebecca Fisher and Shaun Lintern | 00:34:54 | |
For years public satisfaction with the NHS has been highest for general practice.
But even before the pandemic, rising workloads and workforce shortages had left many GPs dissatisfied and stressed. Then add a pandemic into the mix, with GPs instructed to move rapidly from face-to-face consultations to telephone or digital advice as a first step. As the pandemic eases, signs of public frustration are now spilling over to the tabloids, MPs’ in-trays and adding to demand to hospital A&E departments.
Is this a sign of general practice crumbling or are we seeing its rebirth as the old model of care enters the digital age? Do we need a fuller vision for the future of primary care? And what are the government and the NHS doing to manage the fallout from growing frustration among the public and GPs?
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses with three expert guests:
Useful links
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| 18 Dec 2021 | 15: That was the year that was: health policy in 2021 – with Lord Victor Adebowale and Hugh Alderwick | 00:38:11 | |
In another year shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, we explore some key health policy developments and look ahead to what 2022 might have in store.
With Omicron dominating the headlines and a public inquiry into the handling of COVID-19 on the horizon, has government learned – and acted on – the lessons from the start of the pandemic?
As the NHS faces the huge task of COVID-19 recovery, how will the debate about NHS performance and funding play out? Will the Health and Care Bill going through parliament be ready to come into effect next April, and what might it mean for the health system?
And do the social care cap and recently published white paper move us any closer to the ‘fix’ that is so desperately needed for social care?
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Useful links
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| 24 Jan 2022 | 16: Are businesses and investors really serious about improving our health? – with Catherine Howarth and John Godfrey | 00:36:27 | |
Those of us working in health often focus on the government as the main agent to get things done, especially when it comes to public health. But think of all the others out there with power, particularly commercial and investment power.
There are signs that businesses and institutional investors do seem to be getting more interested in health, with some businesses starting to consider their impact on health in their environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.
Are we now at a turning point? Or is interest in health temporary? If businesses and investors really want to improve health, how do they best move forward? And can government do more to support them?
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses this with expert guests:
Show notes
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| 25 Feb 2022 | 17: Tackling the drug problem in the UK and Portugal – with Dame Carol Black and Dr João Castel-Branco Goulão | 00:41:04 | |
Like many other countries, the UK has a growing drug problem.
In England around 3 million people take drugs and drug deaths are the highest on record at nearly 3,000 a year. In the last decade, heroin-related deaths have more than doubled and cocaine-related deaths have grown fivefold. The situation in Scotland is even worse – now the drug death capital of Europe.
The UK government tackles drugs as a criminal justice matter focused on punishment, rather than a public health matter focused on support. But many countries are taking a different approach, most famously Portugal which in 2000 decriminalised all drugs and concentrated instead on public health and harm reduction. The result? From one of the highest drug death rates in Europe to one of the lowest.
How did they do it and what can we learn?
Show notes
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| 04 Apr 2022 | 18: Time to get tougher on the risk factors fraying our health? – with Professor Kevin Fenton and Richard Sloggett | 00:37:21 | |
For the last decade, gains in life expectancy have been stalling. We’re living more years in poor health too, with a 20 year gap in healthy life expectancy between women living in the richest and poorest areas.
The biggest risk factors driving the UK‘s high burden of ill health are smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use. All are socioeconomically patterned and contribute significantly to widening health inequalities.
There have been many policies proposed to help over the years, and the government has already set a target to increase healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and reduce inequality. But at the current rate of progress this will take nearly 200 years, not 12, to reach.
Is it time to get much tougher on the risk factors? And if so, how? A recent Health Foundation report showed that the government could do a lot more to be effective, but will politics allow national government to do what it takes?
Show notes
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| 22 Apr 2022 | 19: Will the rising cost of living be paid for by our health? – with Dame Clare Moriarty and Bim Afolami MP | 00:35:57 | |
This year households across the UK are facing the biggest squeeze in living standards since the 1950s. Most of us will feel the impact, but poor households are being hit the hardest. We know that poverty and the stress of debt harms our health in the short and long term.
One role of the state is to provide a welfare safety net. After last month's Spring Statement, what should the government do now to support those experiencing the worst effects of rising costs? What impact on households and health are we already seeing? And what more can be done to help?
Our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses this with expert guests:
Show notes
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| 26 May 2022 | 20: Reforming health care: reflections from a former health minister – with Lord Norman Warner | 00:32:44 | |
The NHS is experiencing an unusual set of pressures at the moment, with waiting lists of 6.5 million, staff shortages, ambulance delays, long waits and much more.
Meanwhile, public satisfaction with the NHS has nosedived, according to the recent British Social Attitudes survey. While politicians acknowledge the challenges and repeat their support for the NHS, outriders on the political right are flexing muscles and calling for more fundamental reform – despite the ink only just drying on the last set of NHS reforms with the Health and Care Bill receiving royal assent. Lord Norman Warner has been top civil servant, health minister from 2003 to 2007 and in the House of Lords for over 20 years, and has written about it all in his new book In Pursuit of Competence. He joins our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon to share his insights and reflect on what might be ahead. Show notesNorman Warner (2022) In Pursuit of Competence: A Life as a Westminster Nomad
NHS (2019) The NHS Long Term Plan NatCen Social Research (2021) British Social Attitudes Survey 38 The Health Foundation (2021) Health and social care funding projections 2021 Department of Health and Social Care (2006) Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services Duncan Campbell-Smith (2009) Follow the money: the Audit Commission, Public Money and the Management of Public Services, 1983-2008 | |||
| 08 Jul 2022 | 21: How the public thinks about health, and why it matters – with Dr Jacqui Dyer and John Hume | 00:37:27 | |
Ask the public about health, and they often put the responsibility on the individual and the NHS.
And yet we know the context in which we live and make choices really matters. The context that governments, businesses, employers and investors have a big hand in shaping.
Polling shows the public is increasingly seeing the government as having an important role to play in improving people's health, and there's public appetite to reduce the health inequalities highlighted by the pandemic.
So how does the public think about health? And what can be done to engage local communities in improving health?
Show notes
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| 27 Jul 2022 | 22: A tale of two hospitals: the pandemic and its aftermath in Berlin and London – with Professor Heyo Kroemer and Professor Tim Orchard | 00:40:40 | |
The pandemic challenged every health care system in the world. But what can we learn from one another aboutin the way we responded, and how we might improve for future threats?
In this episode we look up close at the experience of two large academic teaching hospitals embedded in two different health care systems – the Charité in Berlin, Germany’s largest teaching hospital, and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London, one of the UK’s largest.
How do these two health care systems compare when dealing with the pandemic and its aftermath? And what can we learn?
Show notes
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| 24 Aug 2022 | 23: From white coat to grey suit: should more clinicians manage the NHS? – with Dr Stephen Swensen and Dr Dominique Allwood | 00:40:50 | |
In meeting the huge challenges facing the NHS, technology is often looked to as the great hope. Yet studies suggest good management is a more active ingredient for success.
Over the years numerous reports have called for more clinicians to manage the NHS, highlighting their deep knowledge of clinical care, and insight and credibility to make effective change. Now, over a third of all NHS chief executives hold a clinical qualification and about a third of jobbing clinicians have part-time management roles too. But that’s still only a third, and getting trained in management is patchy and haphazard – a finding echoed in the recent Messenger Review of health and social care leadership. How can we support more clinicians to manage the NHS, and learn from those who already do it well? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 22 Sep 2022 | 24: Does a new Prime Minister signal change in health and social care? – with Rachel Wolf and Isabel Hardman | 00:39:55 | |
A new Prime Minister, government and health secretary, all facing a formidable array of challenges.
Prime Minister Liz Truss has said that putting the NHS ‘on a firm footing’ is one of her top three priorities (alongside the economy and energy). Meanwhile, Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey has said her priorities are ABCD (ambulances, backlog, care and doctors and dentists), and since the podcast recording she has set out the government's plans. So how will this translate to the NHS, social care and improving the UK’s health? Will government have the bandwidth before an election to address more than the day-to-day pressures? And if a Truss government won a general election with a mandate to do more, what form would it take? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 22 Oct 2022 | 25: What to do about dying? – with Richard Smith and Libby Sallnow | 00:35:29 | |
We don’t like to think about death. To many, death and dying have no value and are relegated to the margins of our lives.
But about half a million of us in Britain die each year, mostly in our 80s, with half of us dying in our usual place of residence – in our own bed. With palliative care stretched and family and friends often left unsupported, what could be an enriching and meaningful phase of life can become over-medicalised, transactional and feared. There have been many attempts over recent years to normalise conversations on death, and in January this year The Lancet published its commission on the value of death following a five-year inquiry. So how could we die better in the UK? Or as The Lancet commission puts it, how do we bring death back into life? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by the two lead authors of the commission:
Show notes
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| 10 Dec 2022 | 26: Is ill health driving economic inactivity, and what can be done about it? – with Sarah O’Connor and Professor James Banks | 00:39:00 | |
We're all familiar with some of the challenges ahead in the UK: a fiscal squeeze, limp productivity, a labour shortage and an ageing population with increasing needs.
As Andy Haldane put it in our recent REAL Challenge lecture, two routes to prosperity for the UK include increasing the number of workers and their productivity. But both of these routes now appear to be hampered by increasing ill health. Since the pandemic, 600,000 working people have become economically inactive – that’s the size of the city of Manchester taken out of the economy. Two-thirds are the over 50s who've left and aren't looking for work. And at the other end of life, younger people entering work are reporting markedly more ill health due to depression and anxiety, and more young men in particular are economically inactive.
Can we carry on like this if our economy is to recover? Or is it now time for us to get serious about these trends, and how? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 20 Dec 2022 | 27: The year that was – 2022 round-up | 00:31:55 | |
What a rollercoaster year it's been. In this Christmas round-up, we're looking back over our 2022 podcast episodes and pulling out some top insights for you to reflect on.
Our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon shares clips from:
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| 28 Jan 2023 | 28: Low life expectancy in the north east, and what to do about it – with Alice Wiseman and Professor Clare Bambra | 00:32:15 | |
Improvements to life expectancy slowed in the last decade, and in some communities even went into reverse.
In England, the north east region has the lowest life expectancy. The last decade and a half has seen a worrying increase in mortality among younger people, and in particular men who are dying before their time. A big chunk of this excess mortality seems to be down to so called ‘deaths of despair’ – that’s deaths by suicide, violent injury and substance misuse. So what's going on? And what can be done about it? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 08 Mar 2023 | 29: International Women’s Day: Voices in health care – with Dame Jane Dacre, Dr Nikita Kanani and Dr Gabrielle Mathews | 00:34:44 | |
Today, women make up around half of all doctors and two-thirds of all medical students. So, has equality in health care finally been achieved?
When International Women’s Day began in 1909, women were still barred from entering medical school. Today women make up a growing share of the medical workforce and students in the UK. Despite this considerable progress, research indicates that today women in health care are under-represented in leadership roles, are paid less than male colleagues on average, and still all too often encounter sexism and discrimination. To mark International Women’s Day 2023, we invited three female leaders at different stages of their careers in health care to reflect on the expectations, experiences and challenges that have shaped their professional journeys and what needs to happen to continue building a truly inclusive workforce. To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notesWorld Health Organisation (2019) Gender equity in the health workforce
World Health Organisation (2019) Delivered by women, led by men: A gender equity analysis of the global health and social workforce British Medical Association (2021) Sexism in medicine General Medical Council (2022) The state of medical education and practice in the UK: the workforce report Royal College of Physicians (2009) Women and medicine: the future The Nuffield Trust (2018) The gender pay gap in the English NHS Institute for Fiscal Studies (2023) Progress of parents in NHS medical and nursing careers Dacre et al (2020) Independent review into gender pay gaps in medicine | |||
| 24 Mar 2023 | 30: AI in health care: hope or hype? With Professor Sir John Bell and Dr Axel Heitmueller | 00:33:58 | |
News of artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. We seem to be on the cusp of a revolution in how the latest AI models will change our lives – and health and care could be at the centre of those changes.
AI will transform medicine, AI will allow doctorless screening and personalised prevention, AI will boost productivity, AI will make thousands of jobs redundant – so go all the claims. But is this hype or real hope? How will AI transform health and care services and the experiences of staff and patients? What’s been the progress so far? And how best to move forward safely? And with growing demand, staff shortages and a public spending squeeze, could AI be a key answer to sustaining the NHS itself? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notesEuropean Parliamentary Research Services (2022) AI in healthcare: applications, risks and ethical and societal impacts
Health Education England (2022) AI Roadmap: methodology and findings report Health Education England (2019) The Topol Review: Preparing the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future The Health Foundation (2021) Switched on: how do we get the best out of automation and AI in health care? HM Government (2021) National AI Strategy HM Government (2018) Artificial intelligence sector deal HM Government (2017) Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future | |||
| 08 May 2023 | 31: How chronic stress weathers our health – with Dr Michelle Kelly-Irving and Professor Nish Chaturvedi | 00:33:56 | |
How healthy we are in part depends on the many different exposures we've had over our life – including to physical, psychological and social factors.
Chronic exposure to psychosocial stress – for example, poverty or other disadvantage – leads to prolonged strain on the body. This weathering can make us physically ill before our time and prematurely age us. So what is psychosocial stress, how does it harm our health and what can be done about it? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 31 May 2023 | 32: NHS at 75: What are we up against? – with Professor Jagjit Chadha and Anita Charlesworth | 00:35:37 | |
The fact the NHS survives by a kind of miracle is one of its endearing British features – so said former health secretary, Kenneth Clarke. Well, can that miracle continue?
As we approach the NHS’s 75th birthday in July, we’re launching a series of three podcast episodes setting out the big questions facing the health service. This first episode explores current pressures on the NHS, economy and wider society and what the future might hold. What are the questions that policymakers may face as the population’s health and care needs change over the coming decade? How can the UK economy power the investment needed for health services to survive and thrive? And how can more long-term thinking help to foster good health and economic productivity? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notesNIESR (2023). UK economic outlook – Spring 2023
Chadha (2023). ‘Commentary: fixing the mix’. National Institute Economic Review. Office for National Statistics (2022) National population projections Health Foundation (2022). How many hospital beds will the NHS need over the coming decade? Health Foundation (2022). How does UK health spending compare across Europe over the past decade? Health Foundation (2022). NHS workforce projections 2022 Health Foundation (2022). Health is wealth? Strengthening the UK’s immune system | |||
| 29 Jun 2023 | 33: NHS at 75: Is political leadership up to the challenge? – with Alan Milburn and Stephen Dorrell | 00:31:55 | |
As we approach the NHS’s 75th birthday in July, we’re releasing a series of three podcast episodes setting out the big questions facing the health service.
This second episode explores the role of political leadership in addressing the big challenges in health care, whether political leadership is up to the task of getting the NHS to its 100th anniversary – and if not, how could it improve? To discuss, our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 28 Jul 2023 | 34: NHS at 75: The huge promise of technology – with Navina Evans and Penny Pereira | 00:38:43 | |
In our series marking the NHS’s 75th birthday, we’ve been setting out the big challenges and opportunities ahead for the health service.
In this third and final installment, we ask how the potential of technology might be unlocked to benefit patients, the public, staff and the taxpayer. We also share initial reflections on the recently published NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 08 Sep 2023 | 35: Our health in 2040: are we getting sicker? – with Jeanelle de Gruchy and Kevin Fenton | 00:33:06 | |
Whatever we are doing on health, it isn't enough to prepare for the wave of morbidity that is clearly in sight.
Recent Health Foundation modelling estimates 1 in 5 will be living with major illness by 2040, mostly because more of us will be older. But it's not just about age. A record 2.5 million working-age people are already not in work due to ill health. So what can be done to improve the state of nation’s health? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 29 Sep 2023 | 36: Going private: what’s happening and is it a bad thing? – with Sarah Neville and Hettie O’Brien | 00:38:09 | |
A record 7.7 million people are now waiting for elective care in England. With so many waiting for NHS care, polls show deep public concern over access to health services and many considering going private.
Meantime policymakers are exploring how the independent sector can help get waiting lists down, and private equity investors are making moves in the independent health care provider market. So does this mean we’re slowly sliding towards a mixed model of health care in this country? And if so, is it a good thing or should we be worried? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
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| 20 Oct 2023 | 37: What do the main political parties really have in store for health? – with Rachel Wolf and Stephen Bush | 00:35:04 | |
A general election is expected in 2024 and no party can ignore the NHS − but what do they plan to do on health?
The health service regularly tops voter concerns, consumes a growing share of public spending and features daily in the media. The health of the nation is also moving up the agenda, with ill health the main reason why 2.6 million working-age people are economically inactive. So what are the main parties planning as we move towards an election and have the party conferences revealed anything new? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes The Health Foundation (2023). Health in 2040: projected patterns of illness in England. The Health Foundation (2023). Public perceptions of health and social care: what are the priorities ahead of a general election? The Health Foundation (2023). What should be at the top of the political agenda for health and care? The Health Foundation (2023). Health Foundation responds to the Prime Minister’s announcement of smoke-free measures. The Health Foundation (2023). Social health insurance: be careful what you wish for. Institute for Government (2023). The NHS productivity puzzle: why has hospital activity not increased in line with funding and staffing? The Times. Tories as the party of change: that’s a hard sell (2023). Ipsos. Ipsos issues tracker: July 2023 (2023). | |||
| 27 Nov 2023 | 38: Keeping up with AI in health care: what we need to do next | 00:32:58 | |
AI technologies are advancing rapidly. Yet when it comes to AI in health care we're still in the early stages. The prize could be big – the question is what will it take to realise the benefits?
The applications of AI in health care will be far-reaching and profound, from high-quality personalised treatment advice made instantly available to automated systems that can cut bureaucracy, free up staff time and reduce costs. All this is exciting and could help with some of the big challenges ahead. But what of the risks? The current emphasis among policymakers is on AI safety – but a range of other considerations will need attention like serving the public interest, inclusion, cost, accountability, autonomy, privacy and more. And how can the NHS and social care rapidly get up to speed with all these developments? Join our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon on location with expert guests including: Effy Vayena (Professor of Bioethics at the Swiss Institute of Technology); Alastair Denniston (Consultant Ophthalmologist and Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham); Ashish Jha (Dean of Public Health at Brown University) and David Cutler (Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard University). Show notes The Health Foundation (2023). What do technology and AI mean for the future of work in health care? House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee (2023). The governance of artificial intelligence: interim report. UK government (2023). UK's AI Safety Summit 2023. Institute for Government (2023). How is the UK government approaching regulation of AI? Financial Times (2023). How will AI be regulated? Air Street Capital (2023). State of AI report. OECD. OECD Artificial Intelligence Papers. The White House (2023). Fact Sheet: President Biden Issues Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. | |||
| 20 Dec 2023 | 39: The year that was – 2023 | 00:36:41 | |
Join us as we look back at the pick of the pod in 2023.
It's been a turbulent year: the NHS under pressure, the health of the population not improving as fast as we’d like and economic inactivity remaining stubbornly high, especially among working-age people. But it's not all gloom. To some surprise, we saw government ditch its nanny state objections and take bold action on tobacco. And there have been breath-taking advances in technology, not least in artificial intelligence. A reminder that innovation and politics can open up new possibilities and hope for the future. Join our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon as we reflect with guests who appeared on the podcast in 2023. Show notes
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| 26 Jan 2024 | 40: Why aren't we working? – with Sacha Romanovitch and Oliver Coppard | 00:37:47 | |
About a fifth of us of working age – just under 9 million people in the UK – are not looking for or are not able to work. Recently the biggest growth has been among those reporting long-term illness, now at a record high of around 2.7 million.
This decline in working-age health is causing concern among employers, politicians and policymakers. Earlier this month the Health Foundation launched an independent Commission for Healthier Working Lives to build consensus around the kind of action needed. So what’s going on, and what do the solutions look like both at a local and national level? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
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| 27 Feb 2024 | 41: Two commissions on the future of the NHS – with Rachel Sylvester and Parveen Kumar | 00:35:38 | |
Given the huge pressures on the NHS it's perhaps inevitable people ask, what's the future of it?
The NHS and social care are struggling to deliver care and support to people who need it. With services so stretched, waiting times at record highs, public satisfaction falling and a demoralised workforce, is now the time to ask some fundamental questions about the NHS? In the past month, two independent commissions on the future of the NHS have reported – the Times Commission in early February, and the first of several papers from the BMJ Commission at the end of January. We speak to the commission chairs about what they found out and what they’d like to see future governments prioritise on health. And given the tight squeeze on public funds, what will it take to truly put the NHS on a sustainable footing? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
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| 25 Mar 2024 | 42: Our health: is it the economy, stupid? – with Torsten Bell and Diane Coyle | 00:32:04 | |
What's happened to our economy and what does it mean for our health?
Many developed economies have been growing more slowly since around 2008, but the UK economy has been struggling more than most. Wages haven't risen since 2008 leaving the average worker £14,000 worse off. Productivity growth – vital to rising living standards – has stalled. Regional inequalities are unusually large, and economic hardship is widespread with 2.8 million people reporting not working because of long-term sickness. So what’s driving this economic stagnation, how is it connected to our health, and what can politicians do to address the challenges? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes The Health Foundation (2023). The unsustainable is not sustained: why productivity is fundamental to the future of the NHS. The Resolution Foundation (2023). Ending stagnation: a new economic strategy for Britain. The Health Foundation (2023). What we know about the UK’s working-age health challenge. Coyle D and Muhtar A (2022). Contemporary Social Science. Levelling up policies and the failure to learn. Bennett Institute for Public Policy (2023). A Universal Basic Infrastructure for the UK. The Resolution Foundation (2024) (funded by the Health Foundation). We’ve only just begun: action to improve young people’s mental health, education and employment. | |||
| 30 Apr 2024 | 43: Limp NHS productivity and what to do about it – with Anita Charlesworth and Neil Sebire | 00:32:47 | |
Improving NHS productivity is a key national priority. But what’s behind the slowdown and can it be reversed?
Over the past few years, amid the turmoil of COVID-19, the NHS has seen substantial growth in funding and clinical staffing levels. Yet the numbers of patients treated haven’t risen in step – suggesting services, particularly NHS acute hospitals, have become less productive. Government has announced a wide-ranging review of public sector productivity and asked services to develop plans to recover productivity performance. At the Spring Budget 2024, £3.4bn in capital funding was announced to support digital and technology projects intended to boost NHS productivity. So why have activity levels not been keeping pace with recent increases in NHS funding and staffing, what can be done, and is implementing new technologies a solution worth banking on? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
Institute for Government (2023). The NHS productivity puzzle. Institute for Fiscal Studies (2023). Is there really an NHS productivity crisis? Health Foundation (2023). The unsustainable is not sustained: why productivity is fundamental to the future of the NHS. Bennett Institute (2021). Productivity in UK healthcare during and after COVID-19 pandemic. Chancellor’s speech on productivity growth (2023). Centre for Health Economics (2024). Productivity of the English National Health Service: 2021/22 update. | |||
| 28 May 2024 | 44: Sure Start: a model for long-term policymaking? – with Naomi Eisenstadt and Donna Molloy | 00:33:08 | |
More long-term, mission-led policymaking is sorely needed, but how best to do it?
The Sure Start programme was set up with the aim of giving young children the best possible start in life, narrowing gaps in outcomes for disadvantaged children. First announced by the New Labour government in 1998, it has evolved regularly over the past two decades. Recent evaluations have found early versions of Sure Start delivered positive impacts for children – supporting improved educational attainment, employment outcomes and long-term health.
So what lessons does Sure Start hold for long-term policymaking? How can national policymakers drive long-term change in social outcomes, what pitfalls need to be avoided, and where should any new government be looking if they want to improve children’s lives and health today? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
IFS (2021). The health impacts of Sure Start. IFS (2024). The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes. Eisenstadt (2022). Sure Start Review, The Therapeutic Journal. The Health Foundation (2024). Sure Start shows that to improve health, governments must keep the faith (blog). Molloy & Asmussen (2021). Worth the wait: new evaluation data shows positive impacts of Family Nurse Partnership, EIF/WWCSC Hadley et al (2016). Implementing the UK's teenage pregnancy strategy for England. Reproductive Health. | |||
| 21 Jun 2024 | 45: The general election and health: part 1 – with Sam Freedman and Paul Corrigan | 00:36:54 | |
As the general election approaches, what are the main parties planning on health and will it make a difference?
Polling day is rapidly approaching and all the main party manifestos have now been published. But when it comes to health and care, do we know what we’re voting for? Many commentators have expressed deep frustration at the opacity of the political debate – not just about the state we are in, but on the plans to get out of it. This matters because whoever wins the election faces a daunting series of challenges. Not least cratering public satisfaction with NHS services, an elective care waiting list standing at 7.6 million, rising levels of ill health among working-age people, and an economy growing too slowly to support the funding and investment public services will require. So what are the main parties promising on health, are their pledges in tune with the public mood, and are their plans equal to the scale of the challenges? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
The Health Foundation (2024). General election 2024 collection. The Health Foundation (2024). What's in the party manifestos on health and care? The Health Foundation (2024). Do the manifestos cut it on health? Institute For Government (2023). The NHS productivity puzzle: Why has hospital activity not increased in line with funding and staffing? Institute For Government and CIPFA (2023). Performance Tracker 2023: Hospitals. Timmins, N (2021). The Health Foundation. The most expensive breakfast in history: revisiting the Wanless review 20 years on. The Health Foundation. | |||
| 19 Jul 2024 | 46: A new government and health after the general election: part 2 – with Hannah White and John McTernan | 00:31:18 | |
There’s a new Prime Minister in Downing Street and a new political reality in the UK. But what does it all mean for health and care? The incoming government faces a range of complex policy challenges – many of them linked to health and care – and a daunting fiscal inheritance.
While the public might show patience for a few months, they will expect to see some results quickly – and health is a top priority for voters. So how is the new government going to navigate these tensions? What will being ‘mission-led’ mean in practice? And where is the money going to come from? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
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| 12 Sep 2024 | 47: Why are cancer rates rising among younger people? – with Kimmie Ng and Charles Swanton | 00:37:46 | |
Since the early 1990s, there’s been a concerning uptick in cancer incidence among adults younger than 50 years.
Scientists are racing to understand what’s driving these trends. Some evidence points to roles for established risk factors – including smoking and obesity. But some research is also exploring environmental exposures – such as microplastics and forever chemicals – and asking if these could be changing the microbiome and potentially causing inflammation within the body. So what do these trends mean for cancer research, for health services and national policy? And faced with such stark trends, where are there grounds for hope? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology (2022). Is early-onset cancer an emerging global epidemic? Current evidence and future implications. BMJ Oncology (2023). Global trends in incidence, death, burden and risk factors of early-onset cancer from 1990 to 2019. Gupta S et al (2023). Birth Cohort Colorectal Cancer (CRC): Implications for research and practice. Financial Times (2023). The unexplained rise of cancer among millennials.The New England Journal of Medicine (2024). Microplastics and nanoplastics in atheromas and cardiovascular events. Cancer Grand Challenges. Team OPTIMISTICC: Opportunity to investigate the microbiome’s impact on science and treatment in colorectal cancer. The Health Foundation (2023). How chronic stress weathers our health. The Health Foundation (2024). Rising cancer incidence in younger adults: what is going on? (Forthcoming) | |||
| 22 Oct 2024 | 48: Understanding race, ethnicity and health inequalities – with Heidi Safia Mirza and Shabna Begum | 00:36:31 | |
The UK is becoming more ethnically diverse: nearly 20% of the population reports being from a minority ethnic background and projections suggest growing diversity is the future. People from minority backgrounds in the UK experience a variety of inequalities. But what is the latest evidence telling us?
A comprehensive analysis of race and ethnicity, recently published as part of The IFS Deaton Review of inequality, finds no single story of advantage or disadvantage across ethnicities. Instead, it presents a complex picture of inequality across and within ethnic minority groups. The findings highlight entrenched inequalities – including access to the building blocks of health such as a good education, stable employment, secure housing and fair pay. So what do we know about the groups that experience inequalities, what drives these – and how do they relate to health? And what do policymakers need to understand to respond effectively? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by:
Show notes
Oxford Open Economics (2024). Dimensions of Inequality: The IFS Deaton Review. Mirza H S, Warwick R (2024). Race and ethnic inequalities. Runnymede Trust (2022). Broken Ladders. Runnymede Trust (2020). Colour of Money. The King’s Fund (2023). The health of people from ethnic minority groups in England. Runnymede Trust (2024). Health Foundation supported report on ethnic inequalities and the wider determinants of health. (Forthcoming.) | |||
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