The Staying Healthy Pathway
Condition: Life – Prognosis: Good
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Everyone living in Y&H deserves the same thing - the best possible chance of staying in good physical and mental health for as long as possible. As most people recognise, responsibility for staying healthy begins at home; but it is affected by a wide range of factors and services.
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This chapter sets out why we want and need to do more to support people to make healthy choices; and how the NHS and other partners in Y&H could achieve this. In particular, it offers a framework for action, which should enable individuals, the NHS and partners to understand how together we can make the right choices and interventions to stay healthy. Our hope is that we will add life to years and years to life. And – by persistently targeting our efforts – reduce the gap between those who experience the best of health and the worst.
The Case for Change
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There have been a number of national reports over the past decade, setting out the reasons why the long-term health of the population is so critical to the NHS. The most important of these, the Wanless review of 2004 indicated that it would be possible to save £30 billion pounds of public expenditure by 2022/2023, if individuals were fully engaged in their own health care; responsible for knowing what to do to stay healthy and aware of where to get help and then take action.
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