
Financial Shield, a pioneering pilot embedding financial advice in GP surgeries in South London, has shown how easing financial pressures can improve health and free up vital resources for the NHS. The findings come as the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan promises to integrate debt support into new Neighbourhood Health Services. This means local health commissioners shifting resources to deliver a more holistic focus on health equity, and prevention.
We need urgent action to address Britain’s household debt crisis. Even before the Covid‑19 pandemic 7.2 million people (fourteen percent of the population) were heavily burdened by debt.