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GPs set to pilot healthy food prescriptions under Government ‘levelling up’ plans

GPs set to pilot healthy food prescriptions under Government ‘levelling up’ plans

GPs will be asked to pilot prescribing of healthy food, the Government has said, as part of its ‘levelling up’ strategy being unveiled today.

In a White Paper due later, the Government will set out that it will pilot a ‘Community Eat Well programme’ enabling GPs to ‘prescribe exercise and healthy food’, it said.

This forms part of plans to reduce health inequalities between the UK’s richest and poorest communities.

The paper will set out a target to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest by 2030, with HLE to rise by five years by 2035.

Another White Paper on Health Disparities will be published later this year, it added.

It follows a Government-commissioned review in July that recommended GPs should prescribe fruit and vegetables to people who have poor access to healthy food.

The National Food Strategy, independently led by businessman Henry Dimbleby, looked at how to improve healthy eating and said primary care networks (PCNs) in England should bid to design ‘Community Eatwell’ programmes that would also provide food-related education and social support.

The BMA said at the time that while interventions to improve access to healthy food are welcome, GPs prescribing food will not solve the issue.

In June, NHS England announced £20m of new funding for a new weight management GP enhanced service, which was later criticised by the BMA for being ‘fundamentally flawed’ on both a clinical and practical level.

It followed the publication of the Government’s obesity strategy in 2020, which came as a PHE evidence review concluded that excess weight leads to a significantly higher risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19.

More to follow…


          

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READERS' COMMENTS [11]

Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles

The Prime Minister 2 February, 2022 11:13 am

WE HAVE GOT TO GET AWAY WITH THIS OBESSION THAT GPs MUST DO EVERYTHING, PRESCRIBE EVERYTHING, SAVE THE NHS AND COVER FOR ALL OTHER SPECIALITIES…..THIS IS ALL NONSENSE……THESE SOCIETAL ISSUES NEED TO BE TACKLED AT A SOCIETAL LEVEL….NOT A GP LEVEL…..EDITOR PLEASE USE MY COMMENTS AS A BASIS FOR ONE OF YOUR BLOGS…..THANKS

Kevlar Cardie 2 February, 2022 11:51 am

Avoid cheese and wine.
And cake.

Valerie Jane Philip 2 February, 2022 11:52 am

Sorry
We are doctors! 12 hour days already full with treating LTC, acute illness and prevention stuff already contracted.
Give this task to someone else!
How about a massive public health campaign , education on preparing healthy meals and price adjustments on junk v fruit veg etc

David Banner 2 February, 2022 1:19 pm

Exactly how are we to “prescribe food”???
Fruit & veg is not on FP10.
Do they mean low calorie drinks that were suggested as a dietary substitute to avoid T2DM? Good luck with that!
Presumably we are to “advise” on healthy food, rather than “prescribe”, which would be just plain madness.

Patrufini Duffy 2 February, 2022 2:46 pm

If you can’t self-refer, then clearly the public can’t be trusted. Obviously. I hope you can prescribe, quinoea, a dash of avocado and sourdough bread with vegan sausages and organic eggs and aesthetic bananas, not the wobbly ripe ones. That smell of a banana plan.

Rogue 1 2 February, 2022 3:14 pm

Sorry Im a doctor, not a Tesco checkout attendant

John Glasspool 2 February, 2022 4:56 pm

When are doctors going to have the time to check old people’s boilers and sign parachute forms if they are doing this?

Patrufini Duffy 2 February, 2022 8:55 pm

Some bloke asked me “How should I clean my nose trimmer” when advised to adopt hygeine measures. Another asked “I want to start antifungals – but can I drink on them or start them later, because I want to paint my nails for this month; are there any other options?”. And another said “Can you check my protein levels, because I’ve just turned vegetarian and want to know I’m getting enough”. No, but if I put litmus paper on your forehead and it sticks and goes red then we have a grave life threatening problem.

Slobber Dog 2 February, 2022 8:59 pm

Err, No.

Dave Haddock 3 February, 2022 8:16 am

So absurd an idea must have originated from the RCGP.

James Weems 6 February, 2022 10:18 pm

Not happening