The Waiting Room with Atticus Partners

Welcome to the first 2025 edition of the Atticus Partners Health Newsletter: The Waiting Room. Across the year, these monthly newsletters will bring you updates on what Atticus is doing across the health space, including sharing our blogs and information about our #AskAtticus speaker series, as well as key political developments of relevance for the sector.??

As the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting publishes his first mandate to the NHS—calling for a return to basics to restore public confidence in the NHS—we explore what recently announced reforms could mean for the future of healthcare. In this edition, we discuss one of the most unprecedented winter pressures facing the NHS and assess the Government’s plans to reduce waiting times. We also examine recent announcements on social care including the launch of an independent commission, as well as the evolving conversation around how we define and approach obesity.?

For more information about Atticus Partners’ work in the health sector and our plans for upcoming events, or if you have any questions about how we can support you navigate our fast-changing political landscape, please get in touch via [email protected].?

Will the Prime Minister's New Year plans reduce waiting times?

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer used his first big announcement of the year to talk about the reforms his government are making to the NHS. The announcement was focused on reducing the number of people on waiting lists – rather than the systemic change many have been looking for.??

Key measures in his speech on the 6th January include the expansion of Community Diagnostic Centres and surgical hubs, which promise to bring healthcare closer to patients’ homes. The plan is to increase operating hours and offer same-day consultations and tests, so that these centres deliver 500,000 additional appointments annually. However, experts like Prof. Phil Banfield of the British Medical Association have expressed doubts about whether there are enough trained professionals to achieve the goals.?

The Prime Minister?also spoke on how the NHS App will play a central role. Patients should be able to book appointments, track results and choose treatment locations based on wait times and satisfaction ratings.??

These changes point to citizens being given more control over how they interact with the NHS, which suggests an understanding from No.10 that the public need to see and feel changes to their lives quicker. The plummeting approval ratings of the Starmer government suggest promises of reform and improvement are not enough, with tangible upgrades being the currency by which the public will judge Labour.???

Both measures above talk to the three shifts indicated in the Darzi review: hospital to community; treatment to prevention; analogue to digital. Despite political headwinds, the Department for Health & Social Care seem to be continuing with this strategic framing, making it essential for those in the healthcare sector to align with these shifts.??

One of the bolder moves is a promise of increased partnership with the independent sector. Despite potential ideological concerns, the Government stressed that patient outcomes take precedence over politics. With much of the hardest left MPs now outside the Labour Party, and the new intake aligned with Starmer, increasing use of the private sector is unlikely to cause dramatic political issues.??

Yet, without significant investment in social care, critics argue, the plan risks being derailed. More people may be able to receive a diagnosis, but the treatment bottleneck will remain if patients cannot be moved from hospitals to care homes or the community.?

Social Care: Kicked into the long grass yet again?

Social care reform is a complex and politically thorny issue that has been overlooked by parties of all stripes for decades.?

Not only would comprehensive social care reform enable individuals with care needs to maintain independence, access quality support, and live fulfilling lives, but addressing pressures in social care would also have significant impacts on NHS productivity and performance.??

Earlier this month, the Government unveiled its long-awaited plans to reform adult social care. Immediate changes included a ￡86 million boost to the Disabled Facilities Grant, to allow thousands more disabled and elderly people to make critical home improvements.??

The Government has also committed to better integrate technology across the social care sector, including the development of a shared digital platform to improve data sharing between the NHS and care staff. There will also be an additional focus on enhancing career pathways for care workers and improving retention and recruitment across the workforce.?

Also central to the announcement was the establishment of an independent commission chaired by the Whitehall troubleshooter Baroness Louise Casey. The aim is to build cross-party consensus behind long-term reforms and the commission is set to deliver interim findings in 2026 and final conclusions by 2028.?

Stakeholders across the sector broadly welcomed these announcements and the scope of the plans, particularly as social care has been overlooked and ignored for far too long in British politics. Healthwatch England described this as a "desperately needed first step" while Carers UK expressed support for the proposals which recognised the role and value of unpaid carers.??

However, the timescales for the commission have been widely criticised with fears that this is yet another case of kicking the can down the road. Sir Andrew Dilnot - the architect of previous social care proposals which had reached tentative cross-party consensus ahead of last year’s General Election - was highly critical and urged the government to ‘get this done’.?

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting defended the timescales arguing time was needed to build much needed cross-party consensus for such a complex political issue. However, this sentiment was not echoed by key stakeholders.??

The influential King’s Fund think tank described the proposed timetable as “far too long” and The Health Foundation expressed its concerns that this history repeating itself and reforms not being implemented yet again.?

These concerns seem particularly valid given that 2028 could be very close to another General Election. Memories of the labels of Labour’s proposals in 2010 as a “death tax” and the “dementia tax” simultaneously undoing Theresa May’s flagship social care policy proposals and election campaign in 2017 appear to have been forgotten by the Government who will hope for a different outcome this time around.?

Whilst certainly a positive and important step forward, the fact many issues and concerns remain is telling about the politically difficulties and complexities associated with social care reform.?

A Cold Reality: the NHS Winter Struggle

As January comes to a close, the NHS inches closer to the end of what has been one of the most challenging winters in recent history.??

During the week commencing 12th January, 96% of adult general and acute hospital beds were occupied, with flu cases adding further strains on frontline services. In North London, Whittington Hospital resorted to recruiting registered corridor nurses to care for patients due to a lack of available rooms. Meanwhile, an NHS trust prepared to cancel operations, urgently discharge 140 patients, and restrict admissions in an attempt to manage “extreme winter pressures.”?

Even the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting acknowledged the severity of the situation, stating: "I will not pretend that everything is going well when it is not. The experience of patients this winter is unacceptable."?

Once again, we face a familiar story—years of underinvestment, ineffective reform, and unaddressed systemic inefficiencies have left the NHS struggling to cope. But how does the Government’s broader healthcare strategy aim to resolve this crisis??

Improving emergency care depends on reducing waiting lists, ensuring faster treatment and easing pressure on hospitals. Timely diagnoses and treatments prevent conditions from escalating into emergencies. Recognising the urgency, the Government has prioritised tackling waiting lists, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s first speech of the year focusing on the new Elective Reform Plan, designed to streamline services and improve patient access to care.?

What is needed now is a greater focus on community healthcare, using the Elective Reform Plan, which aim to create millions of appointments each year through Community Diagnostic Centres, as a foundation. This focus is especially critical during winter to alleviate pressure on hospitals, allowing patients with conditions such as flu or colds to be treated outside of traditional hospital settings.?

We need to see the community at the heart of the NHS, ensuring that people can access quality healthcare in settings that will not result in delays or rejections of treatments for other patients. By prioritising preventative care within communities, we can reduce the demand on hospitals, allowing the NHS to focus on more urgent cases. The question is no longer whether this change is needed—but how much longer we can afford to wait.

Rethinking Obesity: A Call for Nuanced Definitions and Better Care

Obesity has historically been the topic of a polarising debate with regards to whether it should be classed as an illness – with Body Max Index (BMI) used to classify people as having obesity. There has been known cases of athletes and active individuals that have been labelled as obese as result of their BMI. The current reliance on BMI as the primary measure for obesity has long been criticised for its simplicity. While it can be a helpful population-level metric, BMI fails to account for differences in body composition, genetics, and other factors that influence health outcomes. As a result, experts have claimed that the time has come to put a stop to overdiagnosis and to provide a more accurate way of diagnosing.?

Recent recommendations from global experts, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal call for a shift in terminology and diagnostic criteria. The findings suggest that the term "clinical obesity" should be reserved for those with a medical condition directly caused by their weight.??

Meanwhile, "pre-clinically obese" would describe individuals whose weight does not yet result in medical complications but puts them at risk. As a result, this nuanced approach, designed to replace the reliance on Body Mass Index (BMI) alone, has broad implications for healthcare policy in the UK.?

Consequently, the report highlights the "spectrum" of obesity, challenging the idea that all individuals within a certain BMI range should be treated the same – a change that could have profound consequences for public health policies, shifting the focus from blanket interventions to more tailored approaches.??

In a country where the NHS is already grappling with resource allocation challenges, such reclassification could help ensure improved patient care by identifying those with clinical obesity, healthcare providers and the NHS can focus on delivering targeted interventions such as weight-loss interventions to individuals with the greatest need.?

It has been further outlined that the report's reclassification could have a significant impact – with about 20% of people previously classified as obese who would no longer meet the definition, while another 20% with serious health complications but lower BMI would now be considered clinically obese.??

According to Dr David Cummings of the University of Washington, one of the report’s 58 authors, “the whole goal of this is to get a more precise definition so that we are targeting the people who actually need the help most.”?

However, implementing this new system additionally presents challenges. Measuring waist circumference, a seemingly simple metric, often lacks standardisation, and many healthcare providers are not trained to do so accurately. Furthermore, distinguishing between clinical and pre-clinical obesity would require comprehensive health assessments and lab tests, adding complexity to the process.?

Despite these challenges, experts see this report as a critical first step in modernising how obesity is defined and treated, particularly with regards to addressing obesity-related stigma, which has profound social and economic consequences. For policymakers, the redefinition could translate into broader support for measures aimed at reducing health inequalities, an area that remains high on the political agenda for the Government.?

Ultimately, the recommendations from The Lancet report signal a pivotal moment for the UK’s approach to obesity by adopting a more sophisticated framework which allows for potential to improve patient outcomes, reduce stigma, and ensure that public resources are used more effectively for those who require it the most. While the transition may be complex, it signals an essential move toward more precise and equitable healthcare – a goal that the Government is aiming for.?

Insights from Atticus

• Medicinal cannabis use in the UK is rising, with private clinics seeing a 10x increase in patients suffering from severe epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain. Junior Consultant, Amélie Bamford, explores whether the Government should relax its regulations – similar to Canada, Germany, and New Zealand.

To find out more about how Atticus helps health organisations navigate the changing regulatory, legislative and media landscapes, get in touch with our team at [email protected] to learn more about what we can do for you.?