17 May 2002
The report, Claiming the health dividend, says the service should use its clout as the country's largest organisation to stimulate local economies and cut unemployment. It could offer more training to local people, support local businesses and reduce the amount of pollution produced, it suggests.
Anna Coote, the fund's director of public health, said health and wealth went hand in hand.
'The NHS employs more than 1 million people. Thousands more work in businesses that supply services to the NHS. Many of the NHS trusts with the worst staff vacancy rates are located in areas of high unemployment, which makes people more vulnerable to illness, so they come to the NHS as patients, not employees,' she said.
'By offering training and small business opportunities to local residents, trusts can tackle unemployment, improve health and help resolve their own staff shortages.'
There were some good examples, she added. The NHS in Bradford offered training in schools to prepare pupils for nursing, radiography and midwifery careers, while the Royal Free Hospital in London spent £5m installing combined heat and power systems in 1995, from which it has saved £872,000 each year in energy costs.
Coote, who edited the report, added that the service spends £11bn buying goods and services each year, yet an estimated £144m-worth of food is wasted annually. Each hospital also produces an average of 10,000 tonnes of waste a week, more than two-thirds of which has to be incinerated.
A relatively small investment in recycling facilities could generate savings, she said. Manchester Royal Infirmary, for example, saved £14,000 in landfill costs by separating waste more efficiently and recycling paper.
Coote acknowledged that it would not be easy for the NHS to change its ways, especially as it was under pressure to meet government targets.
But she added: 'If the nettle is grasped and the opportunity taken, the NHS could make a big difference to people's health and help to ensure its own long-term viability.'
PFmay2002
