Making a Real Social Impact Part 2: Saving our NHS
Our NHS has been underfunded since 2010. This has lead to an estimated £322 billion of underfunding over the last 13 years.
KNOWLEDGE
Despite the UK's average day-to-day health spend being 18% below the EU14 average (£3,005 pp opposed to £3,655 pp) pre-covid, funding has still failed to catch up with our European neighbours. In fact, funding only reached expected levels aligned to inflation during the Covid19 pandemic.
This lack of funding, alongside an inadequate workforce plan, has resulted in an extensive list of issues arising for the NHS. To name a few:
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There are approximately 125,570 unfilled jobs across the NHS. Recruitment and retention has been proven difficult for years, made even more difficult with actions including pulling of funding for NHS staff mental health and support services e.g., Mental Health and Addiction service for NHS secondary care staff has been pulled until 31 March 2025.
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Approximately 1.2 million people are on the waiting list for mental health services. Mental health services cost the NHS ~£12 billion per year, 8% of the NHS budget.
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Approximately 1.2 million people were admitted to hospital for obesity related illnesses, the second biggest preventable cause of cancer. £6.5 billion is spent annually on obesity related illnesses.
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In 2022/23, 408,700 admissions were related to smoking, costing the NHS £2.5 billion
The NHS are well aware of the challenges it faces and has initiated multiple programmes to reduce these numbers. These programmes are designed to educate people on managing their own health and wellbeing, in turn, reducing the resource burden on the NHS allowing money to be redirected to other essential areas of care. Currently:
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Cardiovascular disease, a largely preventable disease, costs the NHS over £18 billion annually. 9.9% of all deaths in England were caused by coronary heart disease. It was the leading cause of death in May 2023. Coronary heart disease has been one of the leading causes of death worldwide for the least 30 years.
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The NHS spend £1.5 million every HOUR, on type 2 diabetes. That equates to £25,000 every minute.
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22.8% of all deaths in the UK are considered avoidable, with the top 6 risk factors driving mortality and morbidity in England being tobacco, high blood sugar levels, high BMI, diet, high blood pressure and alcohol.
IMPACT
Through delivery of education and prevention programmes aligned to the NHS Long Term Plan, organisations can support the NHS in reducing the amount of resource dedicated to treating preventable illnesses. Programmes could include wellness programmes outlined in 'How can businesses stop UK becoming Europe's Fattest Nation' and effective mental health resources as part of employee benefit packages, encouraging health lifestyles and illness prevention. Further examples include:
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Annual Mental Health Awareness Training to all employees. This will create a supportive workplace environment and educate employees on how to identify signs of mental distress e.g., stress, anxiety and depression.
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Annual Physical/Nutrition Training to all employees. By ensuring employees have access to nutritional education, it will help them to understand the effects of poor diet/lack of activity and encourage them to make healthy choices. This will also reduce health inequalities experienced due to lack of education.
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Free access to counselling and therapy services delivered by external professional partners. By supporting employees with their mental health, it will not only support them with their personal wellbeing, but will support the pressures placed in the NHS associated with mental health e.g., the 1.2 million patient waiting list. The uptake of services will be monitored regularly to assess cost effectiveness, however, through mental health awareness.
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Free Physical Wellbeing activities during/after the working day e.g., yoga, working walks, sports teams
TACTIC
As Founders of BeyondNow, we understand the costs associated with benefit programmes and that two separate programmes for mental and physical health may not be deliverable by all organisations. The below is a consolidated example of our Physical Wellbeing Plan and Mental Wellbeing Plan that can still make a tangible difference and support the NHS.
Social Value Model Example
BeyondNow Bidding are committed to supporting a higher purpose by educating our workforce and delivering wellness programmes aligned to the NHS Long Term Plan. Adopting a holistic approach, we will deliver a 'corporate wellbeing programme' to all of our employees as we support them with their mental and physical health.
Our initiative will begin with an annual wellbeing day, where a physical and mental health practitioner will educate our employees on signs of mental distress, nutrition, healthy lifestyles and the impacts of poor physical and mental health. Specialist practitioners will be employed from x2 local VCSE's e.g., xx who will deliver these educational seminars. By creating a day attended by all employees, we will foster a workplace where wellbeing is prioritised and colleagues and peers are supported to help each other with their health and wellbeing goals.
In addition to education, our local mental health VCSE will:
- Deliver bi-weekly counselling support. By supporting employees with their mental health, we aim to reduce levels of stress and anxiety experienced by our workforce as well as play our part in relieving the pressures placed on the NHS e.g., the 1.2 million patient mental health waiting list. The uptake of services will be monitored monthly to assess cost effectiveness, however, through education delivered in our annual wellbeing days, our staff will be able to identify when their peers/colleagues may require support and signpost them to this service.
Understanding the positive impact physical health has on wellbeing, our wellness programme will place a significant focus on fostering a healthy workplace environment. The following will be delivered in conjunction with mental health support:
- Weekly yoga sessions delivered in office and accessible to all staff. Each session will run for 30 minutes and be timetabled into the working day. We will partner with xx to deliver these sessions as we aim to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of our staff.
- Working Walks: we will provide 30-minute walking meeting slots twice a week for staff to use during the working day (when meetings consist of no more that 3 people). This will allow colleagues to share creativity and productivity whilst keeping active.
- Sports Teams: we will organise outdoor team sports such as 5-a-side football / netball to foster teamwork, camaraderie, and physical fitness. Sports events will take weekly at the local xx.
In addition to support delivered directly to our employees, we want to address the wider issue by sharing our knowledge with local VCSEs and those in our supply chain. To achieve this:
- Our CEO, Tudor Pettengell will work collaboratively with local VCSEs xx, xx, twice annually, helping them develop their business models, form cost effective businesses strategies and give them the tools to win more grants. This will lead to them increasing their capacity and enable them to help more people with health and wellbeing.
- Having measured the success of our wellness programme, we want to share these successes with those we partner with. To achieve this we will deliver free annual 'train the trainer' style training to VCSEs (where appropriate) and supply chain partners, helping them implement an equally successful mental and physical health initiative for their own workforce.
Supporting our public services is a collaborative effort, so we're working collaboratively.
Published by
Emma Smith
Co-Founder | Bid-Writer