Healthy High Streets: Stronger health, Stronger high streets
Public First
Boots has today published a new report, Healthy High Streets, with polling and economic modelling by Public First. It looks at how expanding healthcare on the high street could widen access to care and help revive town centres, and finds that the public see the health of their high street and their own health as closely connected.
Drawing on new polling of 2,015 UK adults and bespoke economic modelling, the report finds a clear public appetite for more healthcare close to home, and a real prize in meeting it:
- Nearly half the public (49%) say their local high street is getting worse, a view shared across the political spectrum. Access to healthcare is one of the biggest national concerns and the second most important local issue after housing.
- Across every healthcare service tested, a majority say it matters to them to have it available on their local high street.
- Community pharmacies are already among the most visited places on the high street, with people going around 30 times a year. 74% see them as an essential feature of the high street, rising to 81% among those aged 65 and over.
- Demand for more local provision is broad: if services were available on or near their high street, 62% would be more likely to use dental care, 57% health screening, and 53% eye care.
- The economic modelling points to significant gains. Better flu vaccination could prevent 192 deaths and save 15 million working days a year, worth around £3 billion, while wider access to weight loss medication could protect a further £4 billion in economic output.
- Expanding the Pharmacy First programme could mean 14.6 million fewer GP appointments a year in England, saving the NHS £314 million.
The report also points to a wider economic prize for town centres. 94% of adults say they would visit other shops and businesses if more healthcare were available locally, spending that could add as much as £13 billion a year to the UK high street economy. Four in five (80%) think the Government should do more to expand access to in-person healthcare in their community.
Healthy High Streets is by Boots, with polling and economic modelling by Public First.
