Improving our nation’s health: a whole-of-government approach to tackling the causes of long-term sickness and economic inactivity

The UK faces a series of complex cross-cutting health challenges. Addressing these interrelated issues – from access to services to health and work – requires a fresh approach. Often, no single part of government can tackle these sorts of issues alone and too often the public sector is set up to treat the symptoms of a problem rather than an underlying cause. We must go further and think of the problem more dynamically through a whole-of-government approach (WGA).

A perfect example of this is the recent sharp rise in the number of people out of the workforce due to long-term sickness. This has significant impacts on individuals’ wellbeing, as well as large fiscal and economic costs. It requires concerted cross-government action to reverse these impacts. This is why the NHS Confederation and Boston Consulting Group partnered on a project to identify a set of practical actions the government can take to make progress. 

Our report explores these actions. It will be of interest to government and policymakers, as well as the NHS, local delivery partners, funding organisations and stakeholders involved in work addressing the wider social determinants of health.