Research links decade of austerity to poor health

Local government spending cuts are associated with worse multimorbidity and health-related quality of life, according to a study by University of Manchester health economists.

The study Cuts to local government spending, multimorbidity and health-related quality of life: A longitudinal ecological study in England , published in The Lancet Regional Health, was funded by the Medical Research Council.

The longitudinal study of 147 English local authorities revealed that a one per cent cut in per capita total service expenditure was associated with a 0.1 per cent increase in multimorbidity - the prevalence of people with two or more chronic conditions.

After controlling for other spending, a one per cent cut in public health expenditure was associated with a 0.15 per cent increase in prevalence of multimorbidity.

Though they found no association between public health expenditure and health related quality of life, a one per cent cut in adult social care expenditure was associated with a 0.01 per cent decrease in average health-related quality of life.

All the local authorities in the study experienced real spending cuts between 2009 and 2018, varying from 42 per cent in Barking and Dagenham to 0·3 per cent in Sefton.

The average total spending cut was 22 per cent which would suggest an average 2.2 percentage point increase in multimorbidity in England over the period.

Social care expenditure, they found, stagnated: in equivalent terms it was £416 per person in 2011/12, and £398 in 2017/18.

The researchers measured the prevalence of multimorbidity from 2011 to 18, and health-related quality of life from 2012 to 17 using data from the annual GP Patient Survey of over 400,000 people.

The report's author, Dr Jonathan Stokes, research fellow from The University of Manchester, said:

“Some local authorities might still have to cut services over the next few years. We show that can have worrying implications on health and related quality of life, particularly for the poorest areas and people who have more reliance on publicly funded services."