NHS ‘may one day sort out damp in our homes’

THE NHS may remove damp from people’s homes in the future, the Health Secretary has suggested.

Jeremy Hunt made the remark during a discussion as he set out funding for plans to ‘transform’ healthcare. He said: ‘We know there’s very strong links between poor housing and poor health.

‘I can see a world in five years’ time where the NHS is paying to sort out the damp in someone’s council house because they can see that would improve their health and that would save money for the NHS in the long run.’

He quipped that NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens, who was sitting next to him at the King’s Fund briefing in central London, was ‘looking very worried’ by his comments.

Mr Hunt and Mr Stevens have announced £325 million of investment for projects in 15 regions including Dorset and Cumbria.