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NEWS
Obesity will bankrupt NHS if unchecked, says Stevens – and our own staff are too fat
Obesity will bankrupt the NHS if a serious effort is not made to tackle the problem, the chief executive of NHS England has warned.
Simon Stevens told the annual Public Health England conference in Coventry that the health of millions of children, the sustainability of the NHS and the economic prosperity of Britain all now depend on tackling this crisis.
“Obesity is the new smoking, and it represents a slow-motion car crash in terms of avoidable illness and rising healthcare costs,” Stevens said. “If as a nation we keep piling on the pounds around the waistline, we’ll be piling on the pounds in terms of future taxes needed just to keep the NHS afloat.”
Nearly one in five secondary school aged children are obese, as are a quarter of adults, up from 15% 20 years ago. Unchecked, it will result in a huge rise in avoidable illness and disability, including even more cases
of
type 2 diabetes, which is already estimated to cost the NHS about £9bn a year.
Public health spending by local authorities is ringfenced, but tackling obesity specifically is not. Some experts fear obesity, which is hard to tackle and needs the involvement of town planners and education departments as well as health, may not get the funding it needs.
Stevens is to publish proposals including a shift towards targeted prevention,
© Dominic Lipinski & PA Wire
intensive lifestyle
interventions, ensuring the NHS as an employer sets a national example, financial incentives for employers who provide effective NICE-certified workplace health programmes for employees, and a ‘devo-max’ approach to allow
proactive councils and mayors the chance to take action.
He said recently that the health service has to “get its own act together” on obesity by helping staff lose weight.
NHS staff in England vote to strike over pay
NHS staff in England have voted in favour of strike action over pay.
Unison members – including nurses, occupational therapists, porters, paramedics, medical secretaries
assistants – voted 68% in favour of strike action.
Three other unions – GMB, Unite and the Royal College of Midwives – have also balloted their members, with the results expected in the coming weeks. Unison will clarify what action it will take once those results are declared.
The action is being taken over the government’s below-inflation 1% non-consolidated pay deal, which the 600,000 staff who receive progression pay increases over
1% will not receive.
The government ignored the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body, which said a non- consolidated pay award could have an “adverse impact on staff
Gill Bellord, director of employment relations and reward at NHS Employers, has urged unions to give more than the statutory seven days notice
4 | national health executive Sep/Oct 14
engagement and motivation” and recommended against it.
and healthcare
After the vote, Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This government’s treatment of NHS workers has angered them and this anger has now turned into action. Refusing to pay them even a paltry 1% shows what the government really thinks about its health workers.
“We know health workers don’t take strike action lightly or often. The last action over pay was 32 years ago. But we also know a demoralised
and demotivated workforce isn’t good for patients.”
He added: “It’s not too late for Jeremy Hunt to act to avoid this and we repeat our offer to the government to negotiate with us.”
required so that they have the opportunity to plan patient care, and Unison pledged to work closely with employers.
“This yes-vote is disappointing for
the NHS and will concern thousands of patients who rely on its services, as well as many staff,” Bellord said. “But we remain hopeful that a decision will be made not to proceed with strike action.
“We completely understand the frustration of many staff following a prolonged period of pay restraint but patient safety must always be our first priority.”
A Department of Health spokesperson said the government
was disappointed
with the strike vote and said officials are keen to meet with unions to take discussions forward.
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