London, 4 September 2024 - A new report sets out eight ways to improve the UK’s health and social care systems. The ideas are drawn from consultation with health and social care experts, practitioners and emerging thinkers.

The report is published today by Nesta, a research and innovation think tank, as part of its UK Options 2040 programme. The featured ideas for improving the UK’s health fall under three themes: prioritising prevention, supercharging the NHS and strengthening social care. In total, eight ideas are featured in the report.

1. Overhaul the policy approach to obesity. The report sets out the need to tackle poor diets by introducing mandatory health targets for supermarkets. This idea, proposed by Nesta, suggests that the UK government could require large supermarkets to improve the overall nutritional quality of their food and drink offerings. The goal is to create a healthier food environment and reduce the prevalence of obesity by making small but significant changes to the nation’s diet.
2. Tackle alcohol-related harm head on. The report poses an option to introduce a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in England, a strategy already implemented in Scotland and Wales. It aims to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and the associated health and societal harms, particularly among the heaviest drinkers.
3. Reform the Treasury’s fiscal framework to prioritise prevention. Government should introduce a new category of public spending for prevention. This means a fundamental shift in government spending priorities to focus on preventative healthcare. It suggests creating a new, ring-fenced budget category – the Preventative Departmental Expenditure Limits (PDEL) – to protect funding for preventative initiatives from being diverted to other areas.
4. Make NHS staff wellbeing a strategic priority. This idea highlights the critical link between NHS staff wellbeing and the health service's overall performance. It proposes radically improving data collection and transparency around staff wellbeing, as well as investing in initiatives that are proven to enhance wellbeing – ultimately leading to improved staff retention and a more productive NHS.
5. Pave the way for an AI health revolution by building interoperability and trust in health data. This idea focuses on modernising the NHS's digital infrastructure to unlock the potential of AI in healthcare. It suggests standardising patient records across different platforms so that data can be easily accessed and shared, while simultaneously building public trust in the use of health data – potentially through the creation of a National Data Trust, as proposed by the Tony Blair Institute.
6. Ramp up the use of digital mental health services. This idea proposes expanding access to and improving the effectiveness of digital mental health services, particularly internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (eCBT). Key elements include monitoring the prescription rates of eCBT, supporting clinicians in implementing the tools, and promoting innovation in AI-driven mental health treatments.
7. Stem rising demand in social care by preventing falls and improving physical activity in older people. This idea, contributed by the Behavioural Insights Team, seeks to reduce the strain on social care by preventing falls among older adults. It proposes wider use of personalised risk assessments and scaled-up physical activity interventions to improve strength and balance, thereby reducing fall-related injuries and hospital admissions.
8. Proactive and streamlined support for unpaid carers through targets and incentives. This idea aims to improve the support system for unpaid carers, who play a vital role in the health and social care landscape. It suggests establishing targets and incentives for healthcare providers and local authorities to proactively identify unpaid carers and ensure they have access to available resources and support.

The publication will be followed by Policy Live (Thursday 12 September), a new event focused on exploring potential policy solutions to some of the biggest challenges faced by the UK. Organised by Nesta and BIT (The Behavioural Insights Team) the one-day programme will convene influential leaders and emerging voices from across governments, the civil service, NGOs and the private sector.

Notes to editors

• For more information on the analysis or to speak to one of the experts involved, please contact Kieran Lowe, Media Lead, on 020 7438 2576 or [email protected].
• The ideas are set out in more detail in the ‘Health and social care: the ideas’. The ideas in the report are not necessarily endorsed by Nesta.
• We thank David Halpern for his contribution to this work and Lord Gus O’Donnell for sponsoring the UK 2040 Options project, and the following for their time and insight on these ideas: Dr Na'eem Ahmed (ImproveWell), Dame Carol Black, Adam Briggs (The Health Foundation), Dominic Carter (Carers Trust), Anita Charlesworth (The Health Foundation), Alison Douglas (Alcohol Focus Scotland), Grace Duffy (Bridges Outcomes Partnership), Leo Ewing (The Health Foundation), Tim Gardner (The Health Foundation), Ravi Gurumurthy (Nesta & BIT), Hugo Harper (Nesta), Nancy Hey (formerly, What Works for Wellbeing), Nicole Main (Clinical Psychologist, Wysa) Dr Jessica Morley (Yale Digital Ethics Centre), Lara Mott (ImproveWell), Dr Luke Munford (University of Manchester), Andrew O'Brien (Demos), Professor Bola Owolobi (NHS England), Vic Rayner OBE (National Care Forum), Tamara Sandoul (Carers UK), Husain Taibjee (Nesta), John Tench (Wysa), Darcy Ward (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change).