Halima Khan, Executive Director in Nesta’s Health Lab, comments on health and social care ahead of the Spring Budget:

“With important calls for a Spring Budget cash injection into health and care services we should not ignore that there are also new and better ways of organising services.

“The UK Government must ensure that the health and care system on which 64 million people rely is adequately funded. At the same time, helping people to better help themselves is a critical element in making the system more sustainable.

“We know that people equipped with the confidence, knowledge and skills to manage their long term health conditions can be less likely to turn to their GP, health centre or local hospital. There are many effective ways of building confidence, knowledge and skills. Access to a network of peers with experience of a condition like diabetes or HIV is shown to improve outcomes but provision is largely dictated by geography rather than being viewed as integral to the future of the health service.

“Shared Lives Plus provides family-based care so that people can live with a family rather than in specialist provision. This has proved to be cheaper, preferred by beneficiaries and reaps positive results. Some local authorities, such as Lambeth and Stockport, are already designing services with communities that are supporting people to live well outside of a formal care setting - a first step towards building a more inclusive system.

“People must be supported to stay on top of their health, as well as given excellent medical treatment. The combination of both will be critical to enabling the system to deliver what we need.”

-Ends-

Through the Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund Nesta supported a series of innovations that help older people and those with long term health conditions to live well – these include peer support groups and in-community models. 

Nesta also worked with the Health Foundation on Realising the Value, a programme of work that analysed evidence for person-centred and community-centred approaches for health and wellbeing, working with five frontline sites across England to produce practical tools and policy recommendations.

About Nesta: Nesta is a global innovation foundation.  We back new ideas to tackle the big challenges of our time, making use of our knowledge, networks, funding and skills.  We work in partnership with others, including governments, businesses and charities.  We are a UK charity that works all over the world, supported by a financial endowment.  To find out more visit www.nesta.org.uk

Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833.

For more information contact Laura Scruby in Nesta’s press office on 020 7438 2697/2543,  [email protected]