More long-term, mission-led policymaking is sorely needed, but how best to do it?The Sure Start programme was set up with the aim of giving young children the best possible start in life, narrowing gaps in outcomes for disadvantaged children.

Limp NHS productivity and what to do about it – with Anita Charlesworth and Neil Sebire

Apr 30th, 2024 32m 47s

Improving NHS productivity is a key national priority. But what’s behind the slowdown and can it be reversed? Over the past few years, amid the turmoil of COVID-19, the NHS has seen substantial growth in funding and clinical staffing levels.

Our health: is it the economy, stupid? – with Torsten Bell and Diane Coyle

Mar 25th, 2024 32m 4s

What's happened to our economy and what does it mean for our health?Many developed economies have been growing more slowly since around 2008, but the UK economy has been struggling more than most. Wages haven't risen since 2008 leaving the av

Two commissions on the future of the NHS – with Rachel Sylvester and Parveen Kumar

Feb 27th, 2024 35m 38s

Given the huge pressures on the NHS it's perhaps inevitable people ask, what's the future of it?The NHS and social care are struggling to deliver care and support to people who need it. With services so stretched, waiting times at record hig

Why aren't we working? – with Sacha Romanovitch and Oliver Coppard

Jan 26th, 2024 37m 47s

About a fifth of us of working age – just under 9 million people in the UK – are not looking for or are not able to work. Recently the biggest growth has been among those reporting long-term illness, now at a record high of around 2.7 million.

The year that was – 2023

Dec 20th, 2023 36m 41s

Join us as we look back at the pick of the pod in 2023. It's been a turbulent year: the NHS under pressure, the health of the population not improving as fast as we’d like and economic inactivity remaining stubbornly high, especially among w

Keeping up with AI in health care: what we need to do next

Nov 27th, 2023 32m 58s

AI technologies are advancing rapidly. Yet when it comes to AI in health care we're still in the early stages. The prize could be big – the question is what will it take to realise the benefits?The applications of AI in health care will be f

What do the main political parties really have in store for health? – with Rachel Wolf and Stephen Bush

Oct 20th, 2023 35m 4s

A general election is expected in 2024 and no party can ignore the NHS − but what do they plan to do on health?The health service regularly tops voter concerns, consumes a growing share of public spending and features daily in the media. The

Going private: what’s happening and is it a bad thing? – with Sarah Neville and Hettie O’Brien

Sep 29th, 2023 38m 9s

A record 7.7 million people are now waiting for elective care in England. With so many waiting for NHS care, polls show deep public concern over access to health services and many considering going private.Meantime policymakers are exploring

Our health in 2040: are we getting sicker? – with Jeanelle de Gruchy and Kevin Fenton

Sep 8th, 2023 33m 6s

Whatever we are doing on health, it isn't enough to prepare for the wave of morbidity that is clearly in sight. Recent Health Foundation modelling estimates 1 in 5 will be living with major illness by 2040, mostly because more of us will be

NHS at 75: The huge promise of technology – with Navina Evans and Penny Pereira

Jul 28th, 2023 38m 43s

In our series marking the NHS’s 75th birthday, we’ve been setting out the big challenges and opportunities ahead for the health service.In this third and final installment, we ask how the potential of technology might be unlocked to benefit p

NHS at 75: Is political leadership up to the challenge? – with Alan Milburn and Stephen Dorrell

Jun 29th, 2023 31m 55s

As we approach the NHS’s 75th birthday in July, we’re releasing a series of three podcast episodes setting out the big questions facing the health service.This second episode explores the role of political leadership in addressing the big cha

NHS at 75: What are we up against? – with Professor Jagjit Chadha and Anita Charlesworth

May 31st, 2023 35m 37s

The fact the NHS survives by a kind of miracle is one of its endearing British features – so said former health secretary, Kenneth Clarke. Well, can that miracle continue?As we approach the NHS’s 75th birthday in July, we’re launching a seri

How chronic stress weathers our health – with Dr Michelle Kelly-Irving and Professor Nish Chaturvedi

May 8th, 2023 33m 56s

How healthy we are in part depends on the many different exposures we've had over our life – including to physical, psychological and social factors.Chronic exposure to psychosocial stress – for example, poverty or other disadvantage – leads

AI in health care: hope or hype? With Professor Sir John Bell and Dr Axel Heitmueller

Mar 24th, 2023 33m 58s

News of artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. We seem to be on the cusp of a revolution in how the latest AI models will change our lives – and health and care could be at the centre of those changes.AI will transform medicine, AI will

International Women’s Day: Voices in health care – with Dame Jane Dacre, Dr Nikita Kanani and Dr Gabrielle Mathews

Mar 8th, 2023 34m 44s

Today, women make up around half of all doctors and two-thirds of all medical students. So, has equality in health care finally been achieved? When International Women’s Day began in 1909, women were still barred from entering medical school

Low life expectancy in the north east, and what to do about it – with Alice Wiseman and Professor Clare Bambra

Jan 28th, 2023 32m 15s

Improvements to life expectancy slowed in the last decade, and in some communities even went into reverse. In England, the north east region has the lowest life expectancy. The last decade and a half has seen a worrying increase in mortality

The year that was – 2022 round-up

Dec 20th, 2022 31m 55s

What a rollercoaster year it's been. In this Christmas round-up, we're looking back over our 2022 podcast episodes and pulling out some top insights for you to reflect on. Our chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon shares clips from:Catherin

Is ill health driving economic inactivity, and what can be done about it? – with Sarah O’Connor and Professor James Banks

Dec 10th, 2022 39m

We're all familiar with some of the challenges ahead in the UK: a fiscal squeeze, limp productivity, a labour shortage and an ageing population with increasing needs. As Andy Haldane put it in our recent REAL Challenge lecture, two routes to

What to do about dying? – with Richard Smith and Libby Sallnow

Oct 22nd, 2022 35m 29s

We don’t like to think about death. To many, death and dying have no value and are relegated to the margins of our lives.But about half a million of us in Britain die each year, mostly in our 80s, with half of us dying in our usual place of

Does a new Prime Minister signal change in health and social care? – with Rachel Wolf and Isabel Hardman

Sep 22nd, 2022 39m 55s

A new Prime Minister, government and health secretary, all facing a formidable array of challenges.Prime Minister Liz Truss has said that putting the NHS ‘on a firm footing’ is one of her top three priorities (alongside the economy and energ

From white coat to grey suit: should more clinicians manage the NHS? – with Dr Stephen Swensen and Dr Dominique Allwood

Aug 24th, 2022 40m 50s

In meeting the huge challenges facing the NHS, technology is often looked to as the great hope. Yet studies suggest good management is a more active ingredient for success. Over the years numerous reports have called for more clinicians to ma

A tale of two hospitals: the pandemic and its aftermath in Berlin and London – with Professor Heyo Kroemer and Professor Tim Orchard

Jul 27th, 2022 40m 40s

The pandemic challenged every health care system in the world. But what can we learn from one another aboutin the way we responded, and how we might improve for future threats?In this episode we look up close at the experience of two large

How the public thinks about health, and why it matters – with Dr Jacqui Dyer and John Hume

Jul 8th, 2022 37m 27s

Ask the public about health, and they often put the responsibility on the individual and the NHS.And yet we know the context in which we live and make choices really matters. The context that governments, businesses, employers and investor

Reforming health care: reflections from a former health minister – with Lord Norman Warner

May 26th, 2022 32m 44s

The NHS is experiencing an unusual set of pressures at the moment, with waiting lists of 6.5 million, staff shortages, ambulance delays, long waits and much more.Meanwhile, public satisfaction with the NHS has nosedived, according to the rec