How surge in long-term illness has made Britain the ‘sick man of Europe’

Britain has become the ‘sick man of Europe’, with the number of economically inactive adults likely to hit 4.3million by the end of this parliament, a major report warns.

Health challenges have reached ‘historic proportions’, with the crisis seriously hampering economic prosperity, a think-tank says.

As rising numbers of people are signed off work with long-term illness, better health is the ‘most important medicine our economy needs for faster growth’, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) adds.

The nation’s sicknote culture has accelerated since the pandemic, with NHS waiting lists soaring to record levels and more people suffering from mental and/or physical illness.

Research by the think-tank suggests 900,000 more people were off work due to long-term sickness at the beginning of this year than would have been if trends continued at the pre-pandemic rate.

The number of economically inactive adults in Britain is likely to hit 4.3million by the end of this parliament, a new report has warned

Wes Streeting waged war on sick note Britain in his first speech as health secretary, vowing to get people off benefits and NHS waiting lists and back to work

Better health could save the NHS £18 billion a year, while the 900,000 ‘missing workers’ could have caused a loss of tax revenue of up to £4.5 billion in 2023, it found. 

‘Should the rate of growth continue at the same pace it has since 2020, we would expect economic inactivity due to sickness to reach 4.3 million by the end of this parliament,’ the researchers said. This is up from 2.8 million today.

The IPPR report says: ‘The term the “sick man of Europe” is often used to describe countries going through severe economic turmoil or social unrest. In Britain today, it has become a more literal reality.

‘We lag our peers on health outcomes, the number of people with a long-term condition is rising, and people are spending longer in poor health. And health is worsening throughout the life course – bringing real challenges for children, adolescents, working-age adults and those who have retired.

‘The nation’s health challenges have reached historic proportions.’

The authors say that improving the health of the population could be an ‘innovative strategy to revitalise the economy’.

‘Better health will only be possible if we move from a sickness model of health policy to a health creation one,’ they wrote. This model could ‘focus intervention on the places where people really spend their time’ – work, school, at home and in communities.

The IPPR said the ‘health creation model’ could add ten years to healthy life expectancy by 2055.

The IPPR’s Chris Thomas said: ‘Founding a health creation system is a way to reimagine health policy – fit for the 21st century.’