Get Well Soon: local health leader contributes to national report

24 May, 2016

Andrew Burnell, chief executive of City Health Care Partnership CIC, has been named as one of the commissioners of a national report by Lord Victor Adebowale. ‘Get well soon: reimagining place-based health’ argues that health services need to move away from treatment and focus more on prevention to help scarce resources to stretch further.

The report says that asking people about what would help them to enjoy life more could be the starting point for a new kind of health system that would bring together local government, community pharmacies, voluntary organisations and other local services. This approach is called place-based health.

If someone has treatment for a health issue, 80% of their ‘outcomes’ (whether they get better or not) is the result of things like lifestyle, where they live and their social networks. Only 20% is the result of their clinical treatment. The report stresses that creating a healthier population and reducing health inequalities will help the NHS to meet the huge funding gap that it currently faces.

Andrew Burnell joined Lord Adebowale and other high-profile Commissioners to add insight and analysis to the report process. “I am honoured to have been asked to take part in this vital piece of work,” he said. “I hope we can use it to plan health services that will empower people to take more control over their own lives and use our valuable resources in the most effective ways.”

For more information about the project, go to http://www.nlgn.org.uk/public/2016/get-well-soon-reimagining-place-based-health/.