"Prevention better than cure" - Government's statement on healthcare

Following the announcement of increased funding for the NHS in last week's Budget, the Government's has laid out it's new 'vision' for improving public health via prevention.

Matt Hancock, the Health and Social Care secretary told BBC Radio,

"In the UK, we are spending £97 billion of public money on treating disease and only £8 billion preventing it across the UK. You don't have to be an economist to see those numbers don't stack up."

The new strategy aims to add five years to the healthy life expectancy of UK residents, by encouraging individuals to take responsibility for living a more healthy lifestyle. The minister stated that this policy would focus more on primary care and prevention, ending an era where he claimed NHS has come to stand for "National Hospital Service".

• Read the Government's policy paper: Prevention is better than cure (external website)

This statement is to be followed by a Green Paper in 2019, setting out a first draft of the government's plans.

• Watch Parliament TV: Statement on prevention better than cure
• Read Commons Hansard: Statement on prevention better than cure

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