Targeting more funding towards preventative services could deliver an extra £11bn annual return on investment (ROI), according to new research.
The NHS Confederation report found that the top 20 interventions by ROI were community based, but noted that the public health grant to councils, which funds many preventative services, had effectively been cut by 28% per person since 2015-16.
Interventions with the highest return included adapting 100,000 homes where a serious fall is likely, and adapting a further 100,000 homes where residents are likely to require treatment due to the excess cold.
The report also recommends focussing spending on children and young people, exercise, reducing smoking, diabetes, and cardiovascular interventions.
Report authors said their analysis, combined with the recent Darzi report, highlighted the ‘stark’ need for health service and local authority leaders to invest more in prevention.
NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said: ‘What we want to see is cross-government co-operation, collaboration and investment on health policy, recognising that that most policy that impacts people’s health is made outside the NHS.’
The chairman of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, David Fothergill, said councils were increasingly having to direct spending to meet pressures in acute, frontline services.
He said: ‘Councils know how to maximize funding by partnering locally to create effective, preventative health services.
‘With proper funding, prevention can become a core part of health and care and not a luxury extra when budgets allow.’
