Sir Muir Gray is a highly regarded doctor who has held various senior positions within the NHS.
His big idea is that “Wellness” rather than “Illness” should become the focus of national health strategy.
In his view, preventable lifestyle illnesses, not ageing, is the key problem being faced by the overstretched health system. “Biological ageing by itself is not a major problem until you’re about 90” he said recently. “Some diseases are preventable, some aren’t, but most of what happens is not genetic, it’s due to environment and lifestyle, as well as our attitudes and beliefs.”
These “preventable” illnesses linked to diet, smoking and inactivity are costing the NHS about £11bn a year, according to Public Health England (PHE), with conditions like type 2 diabetes at near-epidemic levels.
Instead of giving lifestyle advice to healthy people and tablets to the unwell, we should be giving “activity therapy” to the 15 million people who are swallowing pills every day.
This is not a new argument. UKActive has warned that in choosing illness over wellness or, in other words, neglecting preventative strategies, will bankrupt the health service.
Which is why they have called for a £1 billion regeneration scheme to transform leisure centres into community wellness hubs. These would combine GP drop-in centres with gyms, swimming pools and libraries to help empower the public in leading a healthy lifestyle.
A radical overhaul of our leisure infrastructure would help prevent unhealthy habits from forming and move towards a health system that emphasizes wellness over illness. £1 billion is a lot of money but compared to the current, and growing, £107 billion NHS England budget, it makes sense.
A new approach to cross-sector funding for new style leisure centres could make all the difference. Funding body Sport England’s strategic investment model for these facilities is able to leverage £1 billion of private sector funding for every £100 million of public money invested. With this at the core, UKActive estimate that 1,000 new comprehensive and wellness hubs over the next ten years could replace 2,000 ageing leisure centres currently in need of renewal, leading to net savings of up to £500 million a year in running costs alone.
Costing £10 – 15 million, these new wellness hubs can be strategically placed in prime locations where they can absorb the capacity of two or even three outdated facilities.
This is a major challenge to current thinking, not just in terms of wellness over illness but in the way we think about community infrastructure.
Cuts to local authority budgets has meant that discretionary services – such as leisure centres – have seen closures and funding restrictions across the country.
With cuts and budget pressures on the one hand and growing inactivity and avoidable illness on the other, new creative solutions are required.
What is clear is that health and wellbeing is everybody’s business and new partnerships between key stakeholders – NHS, Public Health, Local Authorities, Leisure Trusts and Sport England – are needed more than ever before.
Newham is in a good position to take advantage of a new strategy.
Regeneration projects are changing the face of the borough and new leisure provision will form an integral part of this. Also, and against the national trend, leisure provision has been protected. This not only reflects the popularity of the borough’s facilities but also the key role they play in getting the borough moving and active. New facilities like Atherton Leisure Centre and Manor Park Health and Fitness Centre, as well as facilities in the QEII Olympic Park, demonstrate a commitment to addressing health inequalities and wellbeing in the borough.
Leisure centres, old and new, will remain important community assets for years to come.
