More investment into prevention could double council savings, report claims

The study has been published as part of a call to invest £2 billion in gearing the health and care system towards preventing illness rather than merely treating systems. The report is directed at Chancellor George Osborne and has been released ahead of the Spending Review.

Currently, five per cent of the healthcare budget has been earmarked for schemes that will help to prevent people from becoming ill. However, with a £200 million cut to public health budgets, councils are increasingly concerned that the reduction in finances could undercut prevention schemes.

The LGA contends that failure to tackle the social and health care crisis will leave councils unable to manage future demand, which could reach unmanageable levels.

Analysis of the cost benefits of 11 prevention programmed across the country have shown encouraging results regarding financial savings in the long run. A breakdown of the figures revealed that programmes designed to keep people active save as much as £3.10 for ever £1 spent. Telehealth care could save up to £2.70 for every £1 invested.

Overall, £1 billion of transformation funding was used to facilitate prevention programmes, which included supporting unemployed people, reducing physical inactivity and tackling depression. Calculating the knock-on effects, the amount expected to be saved is almost £7.2 billion over a five year period.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, the LGA's community wellbeing spokesperson, said: “Unless the government gets serious about investing in the type of programmes, we are all going to have to accept the consequences that entails. As councils up and down the country already struggle to cope with rising demand, an unhealthy population will only exacerbate the situation in future years – putting a bigger strain on services which are already at breaking point.

“The Spending Review provides the ideal opportunity for government to commit to investing in a long term strategy which invests in ways of keeping people healthier, mproving lives and saving money for the public purse in the longer term.”

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