Health Management and Policy Alert

State of ageing summary 2025

Centre for Ageing Better -
This report highlights the variations in the experiences of growing older across England with the difference in life expectancy for women in the richest and poorest areas now reaching an average of 3.7 years. It also reveals that older people living in local authority areas with the highest proportion of residents on low incomes are almost three times as likely to be disabled than those living in the areas of the country with the lowest proportions.

• Report
• Centre for Ageing Better - news

The cost of racism: how ethnic health inequalities are standing in the way of growth

NHS Race and Health Observatory -
This briefing considers the benefits of taking an economic approach to assess the costs of racial discrimination to the NHS, individuals and to the economy. It explores a broad array of ethnic inequalities in health care which lead to excessive and avoidable costs and reduce efficiency in the economy.

• Briefing
• NHS Race and Health Observatory - news

An overview of NHS and local government funding for work, health and skills

NHS Confederation -
This briefing estimates that 145,000 people a year leave work due to their health condition. It provides an overview of the key government work, health and skills funding available to the NHS and local government to support local areas to integrate and build on existing work, health and skills support. Future funding will be agreed through the government Spending Review process.

• Briefing

Health and climate adaptation report 2025

NHS England -
Under the adaptation reporting powers of the Climate Change Act, the Greener NHS programme has been invited by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to produce the health and climate adaptation reports on behalf of the sector. These reports aim to support the NHS to deliver a climate-smart, resilient health service.

• Report
• NHS England - publications

Unlocking potential: a bold vision for stroke care in England

Stroke Association - 

Stroke remains one of the greatest health challenges in England today, with increasing rates of stroke incidence and the associated impact on individuals, their loved ones, and the healthcare system. This report sets out a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to addressing the challenges and inequities in stroke care. It outlines opportunities for improvement across the entire stroke pathway, from prevention and early intervention to stroke rehabilitation and life-after-stroke support.

• Report
• Press release

Space to breathe: findings from a survey of smokefree policies and tobacco dependence treatment services in NHS mental health trusts in England, 2024

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) - 

This research finds that people admitted to mental health trusts have better access to treatment for smoking than they did five years ago but are being let down by a failure to create smokefree care environments. The findings come as the government prepares to ban smoking on all hospital grounds. Organisational culture and lack of funding were identified as critical barriers to progress in supporting more people to be smokefree.

• Report
• Press release

 

The role of changing health in rising health-related benefit claims

Institute for Fiscal Studies -
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a significant rise in the number of people getting health-related benefits. In England and Wales, 4 million 16- to 64-year-olds (1 in 10) now claim either disability or incapacity benefits, up from 2.8 million in 2019 (1 in 13). One potential contributor to these trends is worsening health. This report considers what can be learned from various sources about what has happened to working-age health since the pandemic, taking into account the difficulties surveys have had over the past few years.

• Report
• Institute for Fiscal Studies - publications

How racism affects health

Health Foundation - 

This report, published jointly with the Runnymede Trust, examines the relationship between racism and health outcomes. The report shows how people of colour experience three building blocks of good health: employment, income and where people live, and finds large, unacceptable variations according to ethnicity. Going forward, a credible health prevention agenda needs to: take steps to embed racial equity in policy and decision making around the building blocks of health; work with communities of colour to co-produce strategies to further understand and address racism in the building blocks of health; and improve data quality and collection to enable effective monitoring of impact.

• Report
• Press release

Action for healthier working lives: final report of the Commission for Healthier Working Lives

Commission for Healthier Working Lives - 

The independent Commission for Healthier Working Lives was established by the Health Foundation to build a consensus for the action needed by government and employers to meet our working-age health challenge. The Commission’s final report sets out the need for a new approach to work and health, outlining seven key recommendations to lay the foundation for sustained long-term change.

• Report
• More detail

The health of women from ethnic minority groups in England

The King's Fund -
This long read delves into the data behind the health outcomes and health inequalities experienced by women from ethnic minority backgrounds.

• Open the long read