UK isn’t healthy nation it should be

Politicians of all stripes must unite to stem rising tide of poverty or we risk return to Victorian times

In-work poverty, exploitative zero-hours contracts and food banks have all become established facts of life for many in modern Britain. And to that list could perhaps be added another grim social phenomenon that is increasingly common.

According to homelessness charity Crisis, hundreds of people in Scotland are now sleeping in cars, tents or other “unconventional accommodation”.

Given money has a tendency to trickle up, not down, so too does poverty. And if growing numbers of people lack the money for even the basics of life, the economy as a whole will be diminished. Failing to address this situation will dampen economic growth and also risks dooming the UK to a long, steady decline in which vital public services, like the NHS, come under increasing pressure while funding fails to keep pace with demand.

A new report by the British Medical Association lays out the longterm effects of a decade of austerity, cuts to public services and widening inequalities on the NHS. It found that one major reason doctors are struggling to cope with the number of patients seeking their help was health conditions associated with poverty, poor housing, a lack of heating and skipping meals.

About half of GP appointments concerned preventable, long-term conditions, with 20 per cent of doctors’ time spent dealing with issues that were “non-medical but related to social or economic pressures”. The report said: “While doctors can treat a patient’s respiratory symptoms, too often they must send them back to the cold, fuel-poor homes that made them sick in the first place.”

It quoted a surgeon working in Scotland “haunted” by a patient treated for sepsis and foot infections. “When taking their history, they recounted that their feet had been worsening and in agony for quite a while, but they were unable to take time off work to attend the GP, as their income was precious,” the surgeon said.

As economist John Mclaren writes in The Scotsman today, the health of the population is vital to the health of the economy. Unchecked, rising poverty is a threat not just to the poorest but to the nation.

Politicians of all stripes need to recognise this and look for ways to get the country out of this downward spiral, or Victorian Britain may return.