Spending more on social care ‘boosts the nation’s health’

INCREASING spending on social care could improve public health just as much as investing more in the NHS, a study revealed yesterday.

Despite medical care costs rising, tackling issues such as low income and poorquality housing could be more effective at boosting the nation’s health.

Canadian researchers tracked nine regions from 1981 to 2011 to see if social and health care spending ratios were linked to population health.

The study examined levels of potentially avoidable mortality, infant deaths and life expectancy.

Although social spend per capita was just a third of that spent on health care, increased social spending per dollar improved health outcomes more, they found

Dr Daniel Dutton, from the University of Calgary, said: “Spending more on health care sounds like it should improve health, but our study suggests that is not the case and social spending could be used to improve the health of everyone.

“Relative to health care, we spend little on social services per person, so redistributing money to social services from health care is actually a small change in health care spending.”

According to the findings in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, shifting one per cent of health spending into social services could boost life expectancy by five per cent and cut numbers of possibly avoidable deaths by three per cent a year.

Dr Dutton added: “If social spending addresses the social determinants of health, then it is a form of preventive health spending and changes the risk distribution for the entire population rather than treating those with disease.

“Redirecting resources from health to social services, without additional spending, is an efficient way to improve health outcomes.”

David Sinclair, director of the International Longevity Centre – UK, said: “Our failure to invest adequately in social care is costing the NHS dearly. Today’s winter crisis, for example, is exacerbated by major gaps in the provision of social care. ”

ASTUDY from Canada has revealed that increased spending on social care improves health just as much as spending more on healthcare. This is common sense.

One small example: elderly people are much better off being cared for in their own homes than being taken into hospital. Everyone knows this yet too often they are sent to hospital because there is no other way of looking after them well.

Not only are they are less likely to make a good recovery but they are occupying beds often for weeks at a time. The NHS resources are stretched and the patient is not as well served as he or she would be if social care was improved and worked in tandem with the health service.

It’s not, as they say, rocket science but reassigning funding could make a huge difference.