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Press release

The King's Fund responds to the Times Health Commission report

Responding to the Times Health Commission report, Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund, said: 

‘Our health and health care services are at a crisis point. This report is a welcome contribution to the debate about the solutions and confirms there is much agreement about what needs to happen. This includes creating policies that address health rather than just health care, shifting the focus to prevention and early intervention services, maximising the potential of innovation, and ramping up efforts to retain staff and boost the workforce.   

‘Many of these solutions have been known about for years, but not implemented. Successive governments have focused on short-term solutions to immediate challenges, not fully grasping the wider opportunities to improve the health of the nation. The impact of these decisions is clearly visible in the challenges now faced by our health care system with people struggling to access the care they need when they need it, and in the overall health of the population. While public support for the NHS remains rock solid, public satisfaction with the health service is at its lowest since it first began to be tracked 40 years ago.  

‘There is precedent to show that when the political will exists, and a long-term approach is taken, significant improvements to health and health care services can be made. To improve the nation’s health, politicians should focus on making health and care a more attractive place to build a career, bolstering out-of-hospital care, such as primary, community and social care services, and helping people live healthier lives through a focus on preventing illness.’ 

Notes to editors

For further information, or to request an interview, please contact the Press and Public Affairs team on 020 7307 2585.

The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. We help to shape policy and practice through research and analysis; develop individuals, teams and organisations; promote understanding of the health and social care system; and bring people together to learn, share knowledge and debate. Our vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.

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