NHS Birmingham East and North commissioned Uscreates in 2010 to develop and pilot a programme to increase awareness and rates of Chlamydia testing among this age group in Birmingham. At this time, one in ten of 15 to 24 year olds in the UK were infected with Chlamydia.
The Secretary of State was interested in investigating if ‘Ofsted’ style ratings could be introduced for health and social care providers. This initiative had a challenging history, a mixed evidence base, and it was subject to strong stakeholder opinions.
The Department of Health wanted to make progress with its efforts to develop recommendations for front-of-pack nutrition labelling. Over nearly ten years, the work had been undermined by significant disagreements between stakeholders.
England is at a cross roads. Big advances in average life expectancy mean that people are living longer. This is an extraordinary story of success but also brings many challenges – 1 in 3 people over 65 will develop dementia. 800,000 in the UK already have Dementia and this number will double in the next 30 years. Dementia is already estimated to cost £19bn a year, a huge cost to the economy.