Prevention is the New Cure

The £200bn Question: Why Isn’t the NHS Getting Healthier?

In this episode of Prevention is the New Cure, former Health Ministers Steve Brine and James Bethell take analyse the status quo of UK health policy. With NHS spending in England projected to reach £217 billion by 2025/26, the debate isn't about if we have the money, but how we are wasting it.

James Bethell argues that the doubling of the NHS budget over the last 17 years has had "zero impact" on the nation's healthy longevity. We dive deep into why the political obsession with "40 New Hospitals" was a strategic blunder and why the future of the NHS depends on a "Cavalier vs. Roundhead" battle over health data and early intervention.

Also inside This Episode:

The Hospital Trap: Why 80% of funding goes to acute care while community health "puddles" dry up.
The Weight-Loss Jab Dilemma: Is paying GPs to prescribe drugs like Monjuro a breakthrough or "pharma capture"?
The MAHA Movement: We look across the Atlantic at RFK Jr.’s "Make America Healthy Again" initiative as 18 US states move to ban candy and soda from food stamps.
UK Biobank Breakthrough: A major 2026 milestone as 500,000 GP records are finally unlocked for research. Steve Brine reveals the "political fear" that held this back for nearly a decade.
Fighting the Silent Killer: We discuss the £2.6m investment in 20 new DEXA bone scanners—a "tiny" spend that could save the NHS billions in fracture care.

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Prevention is the new cure is produced by Shortbread Media. This week's producer is Calum Macdonald.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can we "prescribe" our way out of a national health crisis?

In this episode, former Health Ministers James Bethell and Steve Brine are joined by Charlotte Refsum (Head of Health at the Tony Blair Institute) to dissect the week's biggest headlines in health policy.

In this episode:

The Tobacco & Vapes Bill: Why 74 Tories voted against the generational smoking ban.
The "Fat Jab" Debate: Should GPs be paid to prescribe GLP-1s, or is there a better way?
National Security: Why "Vaccine Sovereignty" is as important as energy or food security.
NHS Tech: Why the NHS App feels like it’s built for the system, not the patient.

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This episode is produced by Shortbread Media; producer, Calum Macdonald.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Prevention is the New Cure, former Health Ministers Steve Brine and James Bethell chat to Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King's Fund.

Sarah Woolnough argues that health is not made in hospitals — it is shaped by housing, education, environment and regulation. The discussion explores whether the UK needs a fundamental shift away from a “sickness service” towards long-term health investment.

🔍 Key topics include:
Whether Keir Starmer’s proposed social media age limits represent real reform or political signalling
The impact of the Online Safety Act 2023 on child protection
A new £20m addiction and gambling prevention fund
Why health tech innovation struggles inside the NHS
Whether NICE’s new HealthTech Access Programme could transform adoption
Why prevention always loses to acute pressures like A&E and GP access
The political risks of continuing to expand NHS spending without structural reform

Plus: why dog ownership may reduce dementia risk by 40%.

This episode celebrates the third anniversary of the podcast!
Steve and James look back on the different iterations of the show and reflect on three years of the best health and politics podcast around!

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Did you know? This podcast is one of the top health and social care podcasts around. Help make us #1 by following our show today.

This episode is produced by Shortbread Media; production Tim Pont / Calum Macdonald.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Prevention is the New Cure, former Health Ministers Steve Brine and James Bethell sit down with Sir Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England, for a wide-ranging and candid discussion about the future of the NHS.

Sir Jim addresses the crisis facing NHS demand, the limits of hospital-centric care, and why prevention, neighbourhood health systems, and disruptive reform are essential if the NHS is to survive the next decade.

🔍 Key topics include:
Why the NHS “can’t carry on doing things the same way”
The reality behind the 10-Year NHS Plan
Shifting funding from hospitals into community and preventative care
The future of GP health checks — and why GPs are divided
Can prevention really reduce demand on hospitals?
NHS productivity, technology, and patient-owned data
Lessons from Northumbria’s whole-system health model
The role of community pharmacy in prevention
Resident doctors’ strikes and workforce morale
Maternity safety, regulation, and patient trust
How political instability impacts NHS decision-making
oh and his beloved Newcastle Football Club!

This episode goes beyond slogans and gets into the hard trade-offs facing health leaders: money, workforce, culture, and whether the NHS can truly shift from crisis response to prevention.

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📩 Email: [email protected]
📱 WhatsApp the show: 0333 404 6507

Did you know? This podcast is one of the top health and social care podcasts around. Help make us #1 by following our show today.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special episode this week of the health and politics podcast, Prevention is the new cure, as Ministers finally publish the National Cancer Plan.

Steve & James talk exclusively to NHS National Clinical Director, Professor Peter Johnson, about the ambition which says 75% of people diagnosed from 2035 will survive long term and meeting the 62-days cancer waiting time standard by the end of this Parliament. In a wide-ranging conversation, they also talk wider cancer prevention, multi-cancer detection tests and the cancer workforce.

And Professor Johnson responds to today's story that testing menstrual blood for signs of cervical cancer could be a new and accurate way of screening for the disease.

In their look at this week's main news in health and politics, the former Ministers consider reports in The Times (£) which claim an 86,000 drop in waiting lists heralded by Ministers was achieved only by removing thousands of patients from the waiting list through a process known as ‘validation'. And they consider the political implications of the BMA's ballot renewal which could see further strike action by Resident Doctors.

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Co-hosts: Steve Brine & James Bethell
Episode producer: Calum Macdonald

This episode is produced as part of the Shortbread Media family of podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.