The House Article | Community Health is driving economic resilience in Winchester

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A luxury we can only afford to improve if we achieve economic growth. A service for which we must make so-called “tough choices” and perhaps cut to make it more affordable.

I believe that this way of thinking is entirely back-to-front. Far from being a national luxury only afforded to a growing economy, our community mental health and social care services are key investments that create the very growth this government claims to seek. Paying to keep our people healthy is what saves us from the much greater costs of a society without quality healthcare for all.

When people get ill and need hospital treatment, we rightly focus on the personal impact that has on them and their family and the medical care they receive. But that can mean we overlook the impact on the wider community and the economy. When people become unwell over the long term, that means they can fall out of the workforce, they can struggle to pay bills, rent or their mortgage. They may come to rely on family members or state support to get by. It may have a knock-on effect and require families to reduce their hours or leave paid employment in order to provide care work to their loved one.

Without adequate support, what might have been a small or short-term financial difficulty for a family can escalate into major economic harm.

In Winchester, we’ve seen how much difference it makes when we join the dots properly. At Melbury Lodge, our local mental health hospital run by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, staff work in partnership with Citizens Advice Winchester District to help inpatients manage their finances and practical affairs while they’re still in hospital. That means when someone is finally well enough to be discharged, they don’t go home to a pile of unopened bills, eviction notices or court letters they were in no state to deal with.

The project has now helped around 600 people across Hampshire, preparing them for life in the community, free from the stressors that had been impacting their mental health. The main advice areas were around finance and housing, but the holistic service provided by Citizens Advice meant people could address a wide range of issues affecting their lives.

The research on this project found that for every £1 spent, around £14 was saved for the hospital Trust largely from shorter lengths of stay, fewer readmissions, reduced medication and better engagement in community services. With this incredible return on investment, a service like this should stop being thought of as a luxury that would be unaffordable to fund publicly. It’s smart, evidence-driven policy that also treats people like human beings – and provides good value for public finances.

This government has been desperate to find economic growth under the difficult economic circumstances left to them by the Conservatives – limiting their ability to spend or borrow.

That’s why I believe we need to boost ‘Spend to Save’ solutions just like this, which both generate a strong economic return for the economy and do so while following a more affordable cost path than the alternative of allowing people to fall further into debt and economic hardship.

Debt and in-work poverty ruins lives. It saps the joy from life, puts strain on relationships, and contributes towards our growing economic and mental health crises. But by supporting initiatives like this across the country, we can begin to tackle both crises together.