All-Party Parliamentary Group on Creative Health launches
We were excited to gather in Westminster on Tuesday 26th November for the launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Creative Health. An APPG is an informal cross-party group run by and for Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords with an interest in a particular topic. Find out more about the APPG >> ncch.org.uk/appg-on-creative-health
The APPG on Creative Health will be led by Dr Simon Opher, newly elected MP for Stroud and a longtime supporter of creative health.
On his election as Chair, Dr Opher said:
“I am delighted to be able to restart the APPG on Creative Health. The previous APPG on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, formed in 2014, was instrumental in promoting and spreading the use of arts in healthcare. The ‘Creative Health’ report produced by the APPG was a genuine game-changer providing evidence and examples of excellence in arts and health. Restarting the APPG with a new government that is promoting arts in the curriculum and also wants to move to a preventative health service feels genuinely exciting.
This subject has been my passion for 25 years. The power of the arts to transform people’s lives in profound and fun ways never ceases to amaze me. In an age of increasing medicalisation, coupled with a veritable tsunami of particularly mental health demand, the place for creativity in healthcare has never been stronger.”
Other officers elected were Dame Caroline Dinenage MP (Co-Chair), Lord Howarth of Newport (Vice-Chair) and Lord Kamall of Edmonton (Vice Chair). This group, along with other parliamentarians interested in creative health, will meet regularly to discuss priority topics and identify opportunities to raise the profile of creative health in policy, making clear how creative health can help the Government to make progress on its key missions, in particular ‘Building an NHS Fit for the Future’.
NCCH will provide the secretariat for the new APPG.
Our NCCH Chair Professor Martin Marshall, also in attendance, was keen to emphasise the significant role of the APPG on Arts, Health and Wellbeing in raising the profile of creative health in parliament and further afield and NCCH’s continuing support for the APPG in its new form.
"The NCCH was established following the publication of the APPG on Arts, Health and Wellbeing Inquiry Report ‘Creative Health’ in 2017 and we are delighted to provide support for the relaunch of the APPG. The context for promoting creative health within which the NCCH, APPG and other partners will work together is more conducive than it has ever been and we’re confident that the opportunities to embed creative health within our communities will be seized." Professor Martin Marshall, Chair, NCCH
After the election of new officers, the APPG hosted a lively discussion with representatives from across the creative health sector to discuss priorities for the coming year, with a particular focus on the Government’s key missions and the development of a 10 Year Health Plan.
Opportunities for creative health were identified in relation to the shifts proposed by Lord Darzi in his Independent Investigation into the NHS - towards a neighbourhood NHS, with a focus on providing more care in communities, and a shift towards preventing illness rather than treating it. The role of creative health for healthcare professionals was also noted, aligning with Lord Darzi’s recommendation to re-engage NHS staff.
See our NCCH responses to Lord Darzi’s report and the 10-Year Health Plan:
- Building an NHS Fit for the Future – NCCH’s response to Lord Darzi’s Independent Investigation of the NHS in England
- NCCH’s response to the government consultation on a 10-Year Health Plan
Participants stressed a need to raise awareness of the benefits of creativity for health and wellbeing with the general public and highlight the benefits to individuals and systems of linking people to creative activities in their communities.
Some themes were proposed as key topics for the coming year including training and workforce, community and neighbourhood integration in the NHS, articulating the value of investing in creative health to HM Treasury, creative health as part of a prevention agenda and equity and diversity in creative health.
Dr Opher summarised what he would like to see the APPG achieve in its first year:
“My sense is that we need to embed arts and creativity upstream and prove its worth as a preventative measure, as well as continue to develop bespoke creative solutions to intractable medical problems.
To that end, I feel that together with the National Academy for Social Prescribing, we should be looking to get money to providers, and in addition explore ways of making sure we get to people who experience health inequalities. And as before we should look at innovation, such as comedy/dance and drama for specific interventions.”
NCCH has also been gathering ideas on areas of focus for the APPG. We will be looking at all of these suggestions and developing a plan for the year. We hope that future meetings will be available to view online. Updates on the APPG’s work will be available through the NCCH website and newsletter.
Further information
More information on the APPG on Creative Health is available via the NCCH website - https://ncch.org.uk/appg-on-creative-health
The full minutes from the initial meeting on 26th November are available here - https://ncch.org.uk/uploads/Minutes-of-the-APPG-open-meeting-261124.pdf
NCCH would like to make sure MPs are aware of creative health and the benefits it can bring across a range of policy areas and encourage Parliamentarians to join the new APPG. To support this, NCCH together with the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance, have jointly produced a brief containing some key information and a template letter for anyone wishing to discuss creative health with MPs in their own constituencies. Briefing on Creative Health for MPs >>
