NHS Confederation responds to latest ONS labour market stats on economic inactivity

Responding to today’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour market statistics release, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“Today’s revised ONS stats suggest that 2.8 million people aged 16-64 years are not working due to ill health, a figure higher than previously thought.

“NHS leaders know that they have a critical role to play in ensuring that with the right support, people living with poor health and long-term conditions can find good quality work to help prevent them from becoming more unwell and live a more fuller life. This can also reduce pressure on services. 

“The advent of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) provides a golden opportunity for multiple agencies to work together locally to help get people back into employment that works for them. We have been pleased to support our members in seizing this by working with the government’s Work and Health Unit on the WorkWell programme which will fund ICSs to support people off work with ill health in their local communities. Whilst this work is underway on the ground, we need to see it mirrored at the Whitehall level with a commitment to cross-government working and joined-up policy thinking. 

“Ultimately, such efforts will also help our economy, with the cost of the level of labour inactivity due to ill health estimated to be over £43 billion a year. NHS leaders want the government to start treating investment in the NHS and social care as an explicit tool of economic development that can build the health of our nation. Our analysis shows that for every £1 invested in the NHS, the economy gets £4 back in gross value added (GVA).

“Undoubtedly, long NHS waiting lists are part of the issue here. Health and care leaders need government to bring in longer-term funding cycles so they can better plan for future demand and invest more in capital funding to increase productivity and efficiency.”