The CSP had a prominent presence at the recent New Statesman Future of Health conference, where we promoted physiotherapy as essential to delivering the government’s ambitions to shift from ‘sickness to prevention’.
CSP director Rob Yeldham was joined at the conference by senior politicians Helen Morgan MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for health and social care; former Health Minister Lord Bethell, and Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at NHS Confederation, for a panel event titled ‘Progression through prevention: How can we build a healthcare system that is fit for the future?
There was widespread consensus from the panel that as the NHS struggles to keep up with demand for health and care services, a shift to preventative care could play an important role in improving NHS capacity, reducing delays to treatment and care and crucially helping people across the UK to live longer, healthier lives.
Rob made the case that we already know what works and that this can be scaled up quickly – we just need commitment from the new government. He gave the example of falls prevention which keeps people stronger and reduces the pressure on ambulances and hospitals.
Universal access to falls prevention would significantly reduce the 23 per cent of 999 calls which are currently due to falls. However, despite the evidence we still face a postcode lottery across the UK with many people unable to access a local service.
Highlighting the fact that one in 3 people currently have at least one long-term condition, he went on to emphasise the role of the physiotherapy workforce in keeping people physically active.
As the discussion moved to tackling NHS waiting lists Rob asserted that community rehabilitation services need to be considered as part of any future response, citing the example of recent surgical hubs which failed to include rehabilitation workforce planning.
The conference also heard from Care Minister Stephen Kinnock MP, Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, and policy think tanks including Health Foundation’s Head of Health Jo Bibby, and IPPR’s head of Health and Prosperity Commission, Chris Thomas.
Care Minister Stephen Kinnock told the conference that the government was 'clear about the scale of the challenge'. He urged health and care workers in particular to feed into the government’s Ten Year Plan consultation launched last week, saying: 'Real change comes from the energy of the amazing workforce.'
Reflecting on the event Rob Yeldham said: 'It is encouraging to hear cross-party agreement on the need for early intervention to prevent the rapid increase in multi-morbidity.
There was clear recognition from politicians and business leaders today that physiotherapy and rehabilitation play a vital role in keeping people healthier for longer.
'The CSP will build on this consensus as we continue to influence the government over the next few months.'
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