Tag: Department of Health and Social Care

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 30 November 2023.

It marks the largest ever sustained growth in the NHS nursing workforce, with the expanded workforce delivering hundreds of thousands of extra appointments.

• More than 50,000 extra nurses are working in the NHS compared to September 2019
• Government hits target delivering largest ever sustained growth in NHS nursing workforce

Data published today (30 November 2023) by NHS England shows there were 51,245 additional nurses in September 2023 compared to 2019. This means the number of nurses have increased from 300,904 in 2019 to over 352,000 – hitting the government’s manifesto commitment to recruit an additional 50,000 nurses 6 months early.

This is the largest ever sustained growth in the NHS nursing workforce, with the expanded workforce delivering hundreds of thousands of extra appointments, helping to tackle waiting lists and improve access for patients.

Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said:

There are 50,000 extra nurses in the NHS caring for our loved ones, delivering extra appointments and improving access for patients.

We have delivered on our promise but we won’t stop here. The first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will help to retain our current workforce, reform clinical practice, and deliver the biggest training expansion in NHS history, almost doubling the number of adult nurse training places by 2031.

These additional nurses will help support cutting waiting lists – which is one of our 5 priorities – and getting patients the care they need, when they need it.

Building on this achievement, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will further expand the nursing workforce, with additional training numbers, improved retention and the introduction of new roles to support our hard-working nurses.

The 50,000 nurses commitment has been achieved through boosting training and education routes into nursing, ethically recruiting internationally and actions to improve the retention of the existing workforce. This includes a financial support package for nursing students – the NHS Learning Support Fund – providing eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health professions students with non-repayable grants of at least £5,000 per academic year to ensure course sustainability.

The data also shows there are over 1.3 million staff working in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England, 68,900 (5.6%) more than a year ago.

There are almost 7,300 (5.6%) more doctors in the NHS compared to September last year.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan – backed by over £2.4 billion over 5 years – sets out three priority areas to train, retain and reform the health workforce.

The plan will significantly expand domestic education, training and recruitment and will deliver more nurses than ever before. It will almost double the number of adult nurse training places by 2031, with around 24,000 more nurse and midwife training places a year by 2031. This will include over 5,000 more mental and learning disability nurses a year.

By improving culture, leadership and wellbeing, the government is aiming to ensure up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over the next 15 years. For example, the NHS and government will improve flexible opportunities for prospective retirees to keep them in the NHS workforce for longer, and make it easier for those who have already left to come back in flexible, contracted roles or as a temp.

Taken together, these recruitment and retention measures will mean the health service has at least an extra 170,000 more nurses in place by 2036 to 2037.

Additionally, the plan commits to reforming training to support education expansion. The government will expand enhanced, advanced and associate roles to offer modernised careers, including increasing training places for nursing associates and is also working with regulators and others to explore how nursing students can gain the skills, knowledge and experience they need to practise safely and competently in the NHS in less time.

Background information

The 50,000 nurses target includes nurses working in the NHS in England, including in GP settings. This covers all NHS providers across acute, community, mental health and ambulance settings. It does not include non-NHS providers, including social care providers and social enterprises. For GP settings, it covers all nurses employed in general practice.

The 50,000 nurses are full time equivalent (FTE) rather than headcount. This means that if a nurse works part time, they will be recorded as less than one FTE nurse (with the number depending on the degree to which they are part time).

While nursing associates are a career progression to become a registered nurse they do not count towards the 50,000 target. Additionally, midwives, allied health professions and health visitors are not part of the registered nurse expansion work.

The baseline for the target is numbers of FTE nurses in the NHS as of 30 September 2019. More details are available in the 50,000 Nurses Programme: delivery update.

The table below shows the regional breakdowns of nurse numbers across England.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 30 November 2023.

More than 50 million additional general practice appointments made available after government fulfils its pledge months early.

• Latest data shows over 50 million more appointments compared to October 2019
• Confirms government has met manifesto commitment
• News comes as NHS England data shows over 50,000 extra nurses in NHS

Data published today by NHS England shows that for the year to October 2023, there were 50.9 million additional general practice appointments delivered when compared to October 2019, meeting a key government commitment set out in 2019.

The announcement comes as separate data also published today shows that compared to September 2019, there are over 50,000 additional nurses working in the NHS. This meets another of the government’s targets.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Victoria Atkins, said:

We owe a debt of gratitude to all the staff working in general practices for their support and commitment to their patients and for achieving the target of 50 million additional appointments months ahead of schedule.

Our primary care recovery plan is going even further with more appointments, more staff and greater support from pharmacies – backed by funding – meaning we can offer the primary care patients need.

In the 12 months to October 2023, 358 million general practice appointments, including COVID-19 vaccinations, were delivered – this is an increase of 50.9 million compared to 2019, meaning we have delivered on our manifesto commitment for 50 million more appointments a year. This is equivalent to 44 more appointments per practice per working day, with over 70% of these taking place within 2 weeks of booking.

Health Minister, Andrea Leadsom, said:

Today’s figures, published by NHS England, clearly demonstrate that more people are getting the care they need, when they need it.

Thank you so much to GPs and primary care teams up and down the country for their tireless work to care for patients, which saw around 32,500 more appointments delivered every day.

While this is positive news, we know that there is more to do to make it easier and quicker for patients to contact their general practice and continue to focus on delivering the primary care recovery plan.

Today’s announcement builds on data from earlier this month which showed that there were over 34,000 additional direct patient care staff working in general practice – exceeding the government’s commitment to recruit an additional 26,000 primary care staff which was met one year early and is helping to cut waiting lists.

Earlier this year, the government published its primary care recovery plan focused on improving access to primary care. Providing practices in England with £240 million, it supported them to embrace the latest technology to tackle the 8am rush, reduce the number of people struggling to contact their general practice and ensure patients know how their query will be handled.

As of August 2023, more than 1,000 general practices had signed up to digital upgrades – giving them the latest digital technology designed to make booking general practice appointments easier.

Following the pandemic the government is investing up to £645 million and is working with NHS England and the pharmaceutical sector on the best way to support primary care.

This includes ensuring patients who need prescription medication for 7 common conditions can receive it without the need for a GP appointment and is estimated to free up around 15 million appointments over the next 2 years for patients who need them most.

Workforce data is published by NHS England: NHS Workforce Statistics – August 2023.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 30 November 2023.

New suicide surveillance system launched to tackle emerging methods of suicide and clamp down on those seeking to sell dangerous products to vulnerable people.

• Government delivers on key commitment in national suicide prevention strategy to help thousands more people approaching crisis to get the support they need
• Near to real-time suicide surveillance system for England launched, with government working with police to gather quickly vital data on tragic suicides including gender, age group and method
• Milestone will support rollout of new national alert system to notify schools, universities and charities of emerging methods of suicide and risks

Efforts to tackle emerging methods of suicide and clamp down on those seeking to sell dangerous products to vulnerable people were bolstered today, as the government delivered on a key commitment in its national suicide prevention strategy and launched a new suicide surveillance system.

Working alongside the National Police Chiefs’ Council to bring together important local intelligence, the government will obtain near to real-time data from across the country on deaths by suspected suicide by gender, age group and method.

Previously, the only suicide data available at a national level was provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), but it could take up to 2 years for the official ONS data to come through. From today (30 November 2023), however, the data will be received from individual police forces in England and the government will get it within 3 months of a suspected suicide.

Female deaths by suicide, for example, are increasing at a higher rate than male deaths; therefore it’s imperative such trends are captured as early as possible and preventative measures put in place to save lives.

A monthly report on the new datasets will be published by the government, and it will act as an early warning system for indications of any change in tragic suicides.

The new datasets will also support the future rollout of a national alert system on emerging methods or risks, so anyone who comes into contact with potentially dangerous new methods of suicide will have a direct link into central government to report it. Through this, alerts will soon be circulated to all authorities, such as schools and charities, that should be aware and may be required to take mitigating action.

Mental Health Minister Maria Caulfield said:

Every suicide is a tragedy and has a devastating, enduring impact on families and communities, but we are working at pace to reduce the number of suicides, support those reaching the lowest point and tackle emerging methods and harmful online material.

The national suspected suicide surveillance system is vital to achieving this, and will provide important near real-time data so we can spot anomalies in age, gender and method more quickly and take the necessary action to save lives.

The national suicide prevention strategy launched earlier this year saw the government pledge to reduce England’s suicide rate within 2 and a half years, with the commitment backed by more than 100 measures.

It is already an offence under the Suicide Act to encourage or assist suicide. The Online Safety Act 2023 goes even further to tackle these crimes, while also ensuring the largest social media companies proactively prevent people from seeing content that encourages or assists suicide.

Today’s data for England for the 15 months to August 2023 does not indicate an obvious change in trend in overall suspected suicide rates over the period. Suspected suicide rates do show a reduction in the most recent months, but it should be noted there are contributing factors and the situation continues to be monitored.

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Suicide Prevention, Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Doyle, said:

Suicide has a devastating impact, we must do all we can to protect people and reduce preventable death.

We welcome today’s announcement by the government and will continue to work with partners to reduce suicide.

The government is investing £2.3 billion extra a year into mental health services to help an additional 2 million people access NHS-funded mental health support by 2024, and we’ve recently launched a £10 million fund for the voluntary sector in England to carry out crucial work to save lives until 2025.

£150 million is being invested up to April 2025 to better support people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, mental health crises. This will support the roll out of mental health ambulances and delivery of over 160 projects – including alternatives to A&E – to ensure people can receive specialist care in appropriate spaces and help ease pressure on the NHS.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan also sets out an ambition to grow the mental health workforce by 73% by 2036 to 2037, and the workforce already continues to grow to help cut waiting lists.

Support is available for anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts on the NHS website.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 27 November 2023.

The offer will invest in modernising the consultants’ pay structure – reducing the number of pay points and the time it takes to reach the top.

• The government has put forward an offer that will modernise the consultant contract and reform consultants’ pay structure
• The British Medical Association and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association will put the deal to their memberships
• Agreement by union members would see the end of consultant strike action – benefiting patients and helping to cut waiting lists

The government and unions representing consultant doctors in England have reached an agreement to put an offer to union members following constructive negotiations.

Talks were opened with the British Medical Association (BMA) and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) last month to find a fair and reasonable way forward.

All parties strived to find a fair deal for NHS consultants but also one that acknowledges the wider economic pressures facing the UK and the need to continue to bring down inflation.

The government was clear that the headline pay uplift for 2023 to 2024 was settled through the pay review body process. This offer builds on that and focuses on measures that will address consultant concerns while introducing contractual reforms. The core contract for consultants has not been updated for 20 years and this offer will modernise it, including through offering enhanced shared parental leave, in line with other NHS staff.

The offer will invest in modernising the consultants’ pay structure – reducing the number of pay points and the time it takes to reach the top, taking effect from January 2024.

New pay progression arrangements will be introduced to ensure there is a clearer link between pay progression and evidence of skills, competencies and experience.

The BMA and HCSA will put this offer to their members for a vote in the coming weeks. No further strike action will be called while members are being consulted.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Ending damaging strike action in the NHS is vitally important if we want to continue making progress towards cutting waiting lists while making sure patients get the care they deserve.

This is a fair deal for consultants who will benefit from major reform to their contract, it is fair for taxpayers because it will not risk our ongoing work to tackle inflation, and most importantly it is a good deal for patients to see the end of consultant industrial action.

Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said:

I hugely value the work of NHS consultants and am pleased that we have been able to make this fair and reasonable offer after weeks of constructive negotiations.

If accepted, it will modernise pay structures, directly addressing gender pay issues in the NHS. It will also enhance consultants’ parental leave options.

Putting an end to this strike action will support our efforts to bring down waiting lists and offer patients the highest quality care.

The pay scale reforms will also help mitigate the gender pay gap by delivering a key recommendation made by Professor Dame Jane Dacre in her review on the gender pay gap in medicine. To enable these reforms, unions have agreed to end Local Clinical Excellence Awards (LCEAs) going forward – an employer-level bonus scheme – which has been seen to contribute to pay inequalities.

Alongside this, consultants will also be entitled to enhanced shared parental leave, bringing them in line with other NHS staff.

As part of this offer, the government and unions have agreed to work together to review the operation of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) – the pay review process for doctors. It will examine the appointments of members to the DDRB, the timing of the round, remit letters and terms of reference, and the data provided to the body on which it bases its recommendations. These changes will be implemented for the 2025 to 2026 pay year.

As part of this provisional deal, the BMA has also agreed to end the use of its rate card – which advises doctors on how much to charge for non-contractual work, including cover during strikes. Until now, the card has increased the cost of finding shift cover during industrial action.

This reform package is separate from the pay-setting process. It does not affect the 6% pay award consultants received this financial year and it will not interfere with the process for setting pay next year. This is in addition to the significant reforms to pension taxation, the BMA’s number one ask, in the spring budget earlier this year.

Moving forward, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will support the NHS to address existing vacancies and meet the challenges of a growing and ageing population by training, recruiting and retaining hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years – backed by more than £2.4 billion in government investment.

The government has listened carefully to the concerns of consultants, their representatives and employers – particularly around retention, motivation and morale. This offer has been carefully balanced to meet those concerns but also to ensure value for the taxpayer.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 20 November 2023.

New voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth (VPAG) will boost nation’s health, save NHS £14 billion and support research investment.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 19 November 2023.

The trial will use innovative screening methods like an MRI scan and see hundreds of thousands of men across the country participating.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 14 November 2023.

The network will play a critical and active role in supporting the health and care research system to bring innovative new treatments and care to patients, carers and the public.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 13 November 2023.

Every local authority across England to be allocated additional funding to help combat drug and alcohol misuse.

• Funding will boost treatment, helping to cut crime
• Part of government’s landmark 10-year drug strategy to improve quality and access of drug and alcohol treatment by reducing drug use to a 30-year low

Local authorities across England will benefit from almost £267 million of government funding next year to improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services.

The funding, which will be rolled out in April 2024, will enable local authorities to:

• recruit more specialised staff to work with people with drug and alcohol problems
• support more prison leavers into treatment and recovery services
• help reduce crime by increasing the number of people receiving structured drug and alcohol treatment, as well as improving the quality of treatment provided, which in turn helps make streets safer by getting people out of drug use addictions which is known to drive offending

Health Minister Neil O’Brien said:

Drug addiction drives about half of all crimes, so by investing in high quality and greater availability of treatment we can reduce crime rates and save lives.

We aim to raise the number of people getting drug and alcohol treatment to a record high by investing through the long-term investment we’ve been making over the last 3 years.

Today’s allocations will see £267 million go directly to local authorities and their partners to improve services, increase capacity and quality of treatment and recovery systems, and is based on the recommendations made by Dame Carol Black in her independent review.

More people will benefit from residential rehabilitation or inpatient detoxification, while improvements to the recovery services will sustain people’s treatment and help to reduce relapse rates.

This funding is in addition to £95.4 million made available in 2022 to 2023 and £154.3 million for this year – with an overall additional investment of £421 million into drug and alcohol treatment since April 2022.

From Harm to Hope, published in December 2021, sets out the government’s 10-year ambition to ensure as many people as possible can get the treatment they need by significantly increasing the number of treatment places and recovery services.

Over the first 3 years of the strategy, the additional investment in treatment and recovery will help prevent nearly 1,000 drug-related deaths – reversing the upward trend in drug deaths for the first time in a decade.

The strategy also sets out that illegal drug use such as heroin and crack addiction are connected to half of all homicides, and nearly half of all burglaries, robberies and other acquisitive crimes. Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs found the best way to tackle this issue is by boosting the capacity of the treatment and recovery system.

Professor Dame Carol Black, independent adviser to the government on combating drug misuse, said:

A key aim of my report was to make sure vulnerable people with substance misuse problems can access the support and tools needed to recover and lead full lives.

Today’s allocations of almost £267 million will go directly to local authorities and their partners, meaning they can deliver treatment that is tailored to meet local needs.

The end goal is to get many people into world-class recovery and treatment system, reduce drug use and drug related crime – and ultimately save lives.

Delivering quality treatment provision is core to recovery, and in addition to this significant investment additional grant funding has gone into accommodation and employment support.

The government’s work to clamp down on criminal gangs profiting from the trade in illegal drugs is backed by £300 million investment (over 3 years). Since the County Lines Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 4,700 lines closed, 14,800 arrests and 7,200 safeguarding referrals.

Examples of the work supported in 2023 to 2024 include:

• Lancashire launching a specific service to support women affected by problem alcohol and drug use who are engaged in the criminal justice system. This includes targeted support within police custody suites, enhanced support to help women engage in treatment, and providing safe spaces for women to access mental health support
• Halton further strengthening its investment in its recovery support services and recovery community, including the expansion of its Recovery Café in Widnes – a service user and volunteer led initiative in Widnes, which supports people in their recovery
• in Devon, the local authorities expanding their early support response to young people who have been identified with co-occurring substance use and mental ill health through providing a 7 day a week service. Targeted key workers and specialist nurses will provide rapid assessment of young people admitted to hospital and expediate access to alcohol and drug treatment
• Hartlepool establishing a non-fatal overdose (NFO) team to improve service response to people vulnerable to death. This specialist team proactively engages the community of people identified at higher risk of overdose, as well as accepting referrals for people who have recently experienced an NFO. The team offer brief, intensive interventions aiming to reduce the risk of repeated overdose

This funding is prioritised for areas with the highest need, based on the rates of drug deaths, deprivation, opiate and crack cocaine prevalence and crime, considering of the size of the treatment population.

Alice Wiseman, Policy Lead for Addiction at the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), said:

At a local level, directors of public health and their teams work together with a range of services, including amazing organisations and people from the voluntary and community sector, to deliver effective, life-changing drug and alcohol treatment services.

As well as supporting people to overcome addiction, the programmes we support really empower people by listening to those with lived experience to shape treatment so that it makes a difference not only to individuals, but to the whole community.

We know this work is incredibly valuable, both for individuals and communities, but it does require the long-term commitment of this 10-year strategy. The extra funding announced today is very welcome and will enable us to support more people in this way.

Treatment will be available for a wide range of substances, including heroin, crack, powder cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis – the latter remaining the most common substance (87%) for which young people receive treatment.

This investment should have clear links to support the plans from Combating Drugs Partnerships on how it will reduce drug-related crime, including improving access and take up of quality treatment for those dependent on opiates and crack cocaine.

To support this, the government has targeted work across the criminal justice system to increase referrals, including a new police-led referrals into treatment plan, led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and supported by the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 10 November 2023.

Professor Chris Whitty’s annual report says we can improve older citizens’ quality of life, and this should be a major aim of policy and medical practice.

• Successive governments and professional bodies have not recognised the degree to which the population living in older age is concentrating geographically
• The rise of multiple conditions in the same older person (multimorbidity) requires changes in medical training, NHS services and research

The fact that people are living longer compared to a century ago is a triumph of medicine and public health but an expansion of the period in ill health is not inevitable.

England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Professor Chris Whitty, in his annual report published today (10 November 2023) says we need to focus on how to maximise the independence and minimise the time in ill health between reaching older age and the end of life. Quality, enjoyment and independence should be the principal aims.

The report, Professor Whitty’s fourth as CMO, describes how we can maintain older people’s independence via 2 broad complementary approaches:

• reduce disease, to prevent, delay or minimise disability and frailty
• change the environment so that people can maintain their independence longer

The geography of older age in England is already skewed away from large urban areas towards more rural, coastal and other peripheral areas, and will become more so. Efforts to achieve shorter periods in ill health and an easier environment for those with disabilities should concentrate on areas of the country where the need is going to be greatest.

The report makes the case that older people are currently underserved in healthcare, with less accessible transport links and insufficient infrastructure designed for older adults, including housing. Providing services and environments suitable for older adults in these areas is an absolute priority if we wish to maximise the period all older citizens have in independence.

The report calls for research into multimorbidity, frailty and social care to be accelerated, and states that the medical profession needs to focus on maintaining generalist skills as doctors specialise.

Medical specialisation, specialised NHS provision, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and medical research are all optimised for single diseases but that is not the lived reality for the great majority of older adults who often transfer very rapidly from having no significant disease states, to several simultaneously. The increasing specialisation of the medical profession runs counter to optimising treatment for this group of largely older citizens and patients.

Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, said:

Maximising the quality of health in older adults should be seen as a major national priority – we can make very significant progress with relatively straightforward interventions. Older people can and should be better served.

We need to recognise and reflect in policy and medical practice where older people are concentrated geographically, increase clinicians’ generalist skills, improve mental health provisions and make it unacceptable to exclude older adults from research because of older age or common comorbidities.

Greg Fell, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said:

Today’s report from the CMO clearly sets out how important it is that, as a society, we work together to create healthy spaces and places to live and work in. Only by ensuring that people have access to the things that support us to thrive – like good housing, good work and green spaces – can we ensure that people will continue to enjoy good health and wellbeing as they get older.

Directors of public health and their teams work in partnership with both local authority colleagues and the voluntary and community sector to help create these spaces, with health and wellbeing at their heart, so that as well as living for longer, people are also living healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Professor Dame Carol Black, Chair of the Centre for Ageing Better, said:

We welcome the Chief Medical Officer’s new report and its focus on the diversity of experiences in older age. Older generations are repeatedly grouped together as a homogeneous group, when in fact many people are facing enormous challenges and hardship in their later years, as this report makes clear.

Good health has an enormous influence on people’s enjoyment of later life but we don’t all have an equal opportunity to age well. Wealth, work, housing, discrimination – all play a significant role in the huge gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas of the country.

We also echo the report’s message that we need to aspire to improve the quality of life for people as they age, including through creating homes and communities that help people to age well. This will not only benefit millions of individuals but also deliver massive societal benefits if more people are given the opportunity to make the most of their later life.

Professor Dame Linda Partridge, Biological Secretary and Vice President, The Royal Society and Professorial Research Fellow, University College London, said:

Supporting an ageing population to live well for longer will be a defining challenge of the 21st century, for the UK and many other economies. This timely report from the Chief Medical Officer serves to bring these issues to the forefront of political and public discussion.

Among the many facets of this challenge, the emerging field of geroscience holds promise for managing and preventing some age-related diseases. Capitalising on this promise will require new treatments and an evolution of approaches across the whole life sciences system, from fundamental discovery to trial design.

Dr Sarah Clarke, President of the Royal College of Physicians, said:

With an increasing number of people with multiple long-term conditions, generalist skills are key, as are close working links with primary, community care and the voluntary sector. It is vital that specialists are supported to feel confident in their generalist skills, to provide joined-up care for these patients.

Professor Adam Gordon, President of the British Geriatrics Society, said:

Population ageing is one of the biggest opportunities and challenges facing us globally. With this in mind, we welcome that this year the Chief Medical Officer has chosen to focus his annual report on the ageing population. We agree that people living longer lives is a triumph of public health, modern medicine and healthier lifestyles.

The invaluable contribution of older people to society enriches us all. The Chief Medical Officer is also right to highlight the challenges associated with more people living with complex health and care needs, including increasing levels of frailty and multimorbidity. Inequalities are increasing across our society, with some people enjoying excellent health into their later years and others spending many years living in poor health. There are not enough specialists working in older people’s healthcare and not enough healthcare professionals have developed the right skills to care for this growing population group.

The Chief Medical Officer’s call to recognise this as a major national priority is very timely – we are all ageing and we must act now to grasp this opportunity, ensuring that older people now and in the future are enabled to live healthy, independent lives for as long as possible.

Background information

The CMO’s annual report last year was on air pollution, while his report in 2021 looked at health in coastal communities. The 2020 annual report looked at health trends and variation in England.

The report demonstrates how the rate of population ageing varies across the country and includes a chapter with contributions from 7 different local authorities:

• Hampshire County Council
• Isle of Wight Council
• Gloucestershire County Council
• Cumberland Council
• North Yorkshire Council
• Derbyshire County Council
• Norfolk County Council

For each of these, the director of public health describes the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly ageing population in their local authority.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 8 November 2023.

Over 12,000 responses so far submitted on government proposals to create first ‘smokefree generation’, less than halfway through consultation period.

• Final allocations announced from £70 million a year for local authorities in England to support stop smoking services, helping nearly 360,000 people quit
• King’s Speech included historic Bill to ban sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, creating a better and brighter future for our children

Over 12,000 responses have been received as part of the government’s consultation on plans to create a smokefree generation and crack down on youth vaping – the most significant public health intervention in a generation.

The Prime Minister recently announced plans to introduce a historic new law to stop children who turn 14 this year or younger from ever legally being sold cigarettes in England. He also set out the government’s concerns about the worrying rise in vaping among children and announced a public consultation on plans to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children.

Bolstering efforts to phase out smoking, £70 million has today been allocated by the government for local stop smoking services and support in every local authority in England. This is more than double the current funding available for these services.

Stop smoking services and support provide one-to-one and group stop smoking sessions, access to accurate information and advice, as well as easy and affordable access to quit aids like skin patches, inhalators, nasal and mouth spray, chewing gum and lozenges.

Someone quitting before turning 30 could add 10 years to their life and, if a smoker can quit smoking for 28 days, they are five times more likely to quit permanently. This new funding will support around 360,000 people to quit smoking.

It will be ring-fenced specifically for stop smoking services and the local allocations have been calculated to ensure local authorities with the highest smoking rates receive additional weighted funding.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

I want to build a brighter future for our children, which means taking the necessary decisions for the long-term interests of our country.

Smoking is a deadly habit, so we are making the biggest single public health intervention in a generation to stop our kids from ever being able to buy a cigarette. This will protect their health both now and in future – saving tens of thousands of lives and saving the NHS billions of pounds.

Alongside the final funding allocations, the government has issued guidance to local authorities – in partnership with the Local Government Association.

The guidance highlights how this funding should be used to build capacity in local areas to help more people quit, link smokers to the most effective interventions, and also support existing support schemes like Swap to Stop. The Swap to Stop scheme is the first of its kind in the world and offers a million smokers across England a free vaping starter kit.

Acknowledging the importance of putting the next generation first and saving lives, on Tuesday 7 November, His Majesty King Charles III set out plans for the government to introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

Smoking kills tens of thousands of people every single year. That’s why we’re working at pace to introduce this historic legislation which will protect the next generation, prevent our children from starting smoking, and improve our nation’s health.

We’ve also announced funding allocations for every single area in England to support local stop smoking services and support, which are proven to significantly improve someone’s chances of quitting for good. The increased new investment of £70 million per year will double current funding for such services and will help save countless lives up and down the country.

Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said:

Smoking is highly addictive and causes multiple diseases including heart disease, cancers, dementia and stroke.

The response to the consultation shows people care strongly about this issue. If passed, the Bill will help ensure the next generation is smoke free and the additional funding will help current smokers stop, preventing major future harm.

The live public consultation – which closes on Wednesday 6 December – also details proposals to prevent underage and illicit sales of tobacco and vapes, with plans to introduce on the spot fines for underage sales. The consultation is open to anyone, of any age, in the UK to share their experiences and opinions and help shape future policy on vaping and smoking.

The Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, last week visited Salford City Council to meet local councillors, public health leaders, and Trading Standards officers where he discussed work being carried out in the region to seize illicit vapes. He was also shown two shipping containers full of seized products.

Illicit vapes can contain unknown ingredients, higher levels of nicotine, and are often made easily available to children. Over two million illicit vapes were seized across England by Trading Standards from 2022 to 2023.

Earlier this year the Prime Minister also announced £30 million to further support agencies such as local trading standards, HMRC and Border Force to take action to stop underage sales and tackle the import of illicit tobacco and vaping products at the border.

Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board said:

Council cessation services are vitally important in helping smokers to quit. It is good news that they are seeing additional funding which will help to transform the health outcomes of people across the country.

We believe this is a progressive piece of legislation that would undoubtedly impact on smoking prevalence, and ultimately reduce rates of smoking-related disease.

The goal of a smokefree generation no longer seems out of reach and we want to work with government and others to achieve this.

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said:

ASH congratulates the government for paving the way in the King’s speech for a ground-breaking Bill to create a smokefree generation to be introduced to parliament imminently.

No parent, whether they smoke themselves or not, wants their children to grow up to become smokers, which is why the smokefree generation policy is so strongly supported by the public.

We will do all we can, working in lockstep with the health community, to ensure that the legislation is passed before the end of this Parliament.

Cancer Research UK’s Chief Executive, Michelle Mitchell, said:

Smoking rates fall with decisive action from leaders: that’s why we support the UK Government’s commitment to changing the age of sale of tobacco announced in the King’s Speech today. We call on MPs from all parties to support the legislation.

I’ve never met anyone who wants their child to take up smoking. Cancer Research UK estimates that there are around 885,000 16–24-year-olds smoking in the UK today. The recently announced funding can help those smoking to quit, but this proposed legislation could stop the next generation ever becoming addicted to tobacco.

Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive at Asthma + Lung UK, said:

The Bill is historic. Smoking remains the biggest cause of lung disease deaths in the UK. I’m delighted that children today may never legally be able to buy cigarettes and will therefore be protected from developing lung conditions caused by a deadly addiction to tobacco.

These smokefree plans will free future generations from the pernicious grasp of tobacco addiction, which kills 76,000 people every year. It’s also encouraging to see more than 12,000 responses submitted by the public on the Government’s proposal for a smoke-free generation, making it clear the public care strongly about this issue. And with a recent YouGov survey showing 71% of people support this Bill, there is clearly public backing to create a better and brighter future for our children.

The government’s approach and commitment to creating the first smokefree generation is extremely welcome, but now it must give this Bill enough time to be passed before the next General Election. With two-thirds smokers saying they started before 18, many of our children face a lifetime trapped in an expensive and deadly addiction if this cycle isn’t broken.

Proposals being consulted on include:

• making it an offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products
• restricting the flavours and descriptions of vapes so that vape flavours are no longer targeted at children – we want to ensure this is done in a way that continues to support adult smokers to switch to vapes
• regulating point of sale displays in retail outlets so that vapes are kept out of sight from children and away from products that appeal to them, such as sweets
• considering restricting the sale of disposable vapes, which are clearly linked to the rise in vaping in children. These products are not only attractive to children but also incredibly harmful to the environment
• regulating vape packaging and product presentation, ensuring that neither the device nor its packaging is targeted to children
• considering restricting the sale of disposable vapes, which are clearly linked to the rise in vaping in children. These products are not only attractive to children but also incredibly harmful to the environment
• exploring further restrictions for non-nicotine vapes and other nicotine consumer products such as nicotine pouches exploring whether increasing the price of vapes will reduce the number of young people using them
• introducing new powers for local authorities to issue on-the-spot fines (fixed penalty notices) to enforce age of sale legislation of tobacco products and vapes