INTERVIEW
The changing landscape of healthcare
As Commercial Director of Westfield Health, David Capper is at the forefront of the significant challenges and opportunities facing the healthcare sector. He spoke to Business Network Editor Nathan Fearn about the current state of healthcare in the UK and how business has a crucial role to play.
Having started out as a professional footballer for Sheffield United, David Capper has always understood the importance and impact of health and wellbeing. After leaving the sport at the age of 21, he has since
forged an impressive career within healthcare, where he is now responsible for Westfield Health’s strategic thinking and planning. “I left football in 1999 and went straight to Norwich
Union, where I was in Life and Pensions,” explains David. “I progressed to become a manager there and then,
through my connections with Sheffield United, which Westfield sponsors, I was invited to interview for a management trainee role in 2004. “I had seven great years at Westfield before being headhunted to work for a global language company before returning in 2015, so I have worked across three different sectors, which I think helps broaden your skill-set.” While David’s role at Westfield is a professional one, the
affinity he has with the company goes beyond this, with personal circumstances offering a different perspective. “I have two daughters and unfortunately one was diagnosed with a tumour and the other was born prematurely. I remember making all those hospital trips and seeing the Westfield Health diagnostic scanning room and that really resonated with me. “Westfield gives charitable donations every year and one
per cent of our turnover - whether we win, lose or draw – is given away in donations. To see the footprint of Westfield in the communities you serve is something I am proud of.” As Westfield approaches its centenary – it’s currently
been operating for 98 years – the not-for-profit organisation, which provides healthcare plans to private and public sector organisations, has had to adapt to an ever-shifting healthcare environment. “There’s a changing landscape in healthcare and a really
exciting evolution of Westfield Health in terms of how it is responding to that change. It’s a strategic change in direction that’s been really fulfilling and exciting. “Westfield is a market-leading health insurer but there is
a whole new challenge taking place due to an ageing population, the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes and preventable diseases and that’s something that has really formed our strategic thinking. “We need to protect everything that is great about
Westfield in terms of its core values and ethos but there is so much more we can do to help more people and not just from an insurance point of view.” The scope of health insurance, and arguably its
perception, has altered dramatically. Perhaps perceived by 28 business network May 2017
some as an alternative to free-at-the-point-of-entry public healthcare, David explains that the purpose of health insurance companies is very much to work closely with the NHS and its stakeholders to provide support. “If you go back into Westfield’s history map of 98 years,
pre-NHS we funded and provided healthcare in the Sheffield region. When the NHS was formed (in 1948) our predecessors pivoted overnight to become a health insurance company with a remit to always support the NHS. “Our charitable foundation gives donations to the NHS or medically-related charities. We offer products and services to fill the gap and, at the moment, that gap has never been greater. Demand on the NHS has never been higher and it’s only going one way.” So with a renewed focus on behavioural education as a
means of preventing health issues before they occur – the Change4Life campaign a case in point – has David noticed an increase in demand for Westfield’s services? “Going back to 2006/7, 2008 even, there was a sizable
proportion of our customers that didn’t engage with, or use, our insurance plan. What we’ve seen over the past ten years in particular is a higher engagement with insurance products, so that shows attitudes towards healthcare are changing. “The demand placed on the system creates an opportunity for companies like Westfield to support. We want to encourage and enable people to make healthier choices and it is about choice; you can’t force change.” Few industries touch every cornerstone of life quite like healthcare and, as with many other sectors, collaboration is, David believes, essential. “Key for us has been our Tier One partnership with the
Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC). That’s seen us work in collaboration with leading professors that have supported Team GB to deliver numerous medals at the London and Rio Olympics. “The AWRC itself is a £14m investment from the Department for Health, the most advanced research centre in the world for physical activity and wellbeing, so there are some really good initiatives going on.” However collaborations between key stakeholders are
not always joined up or, argues David, beneficial to the healthcare sector. “While we’re encouraging people to look after their health
and have maintenance plans to help keep fit and healthy, there’s been an eight per cent rise in insurance premium tax in the past two years,” explains David. “For a not-for-profit organisation such as ourselves, that can be the difference between a
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