Great minds such as Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein all bestowed the virtues of prevention being better than cure in healthcare. Edison predicted the Doctor of the future would spend his time preventing issues rather than solving them.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock, yesterday brought to light a 41 page document detailing the governments’ vision for the future of healthcare in the UK citing prevention as their top priority.
Mr Hancock reflected on prevention being more than simply the responsibility of the medical and social care system but that it should be actively promoted and delivered by all members of the community.
“I want us to be working with all those who have a role in influencing health: communities, employers, industry, local government, housing, schools and charities.”
Matt Hancock has recently encouraged companies to adopt standing desks and undertake standing meetings as a means to integrate healthy culture at a ground roots level.
The Health secretary’s report further encourages embedding a culture of good health and positive working / learning environments within our communities to realise his target to increase life expectancy by at least 5 years by 2035.
The document reads “Prevention is as important at seventy years old as it is at age seven.”
The report discusses the need for preventative technology, mobile apps for remote workers and the need for online communities to help patients provide advice and support to one another. Alongside this the NHS may begin to implement “lifestyle questionnaires” on admission to tackle preventable illness.
The questionnaires and notions of individual responsibility have been criticised by some as encouraging a “nanny state.”
The full document can be accessed here.
