View the letter here

A letter from the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) signed by university and NHS Trust leaders, makes a direct plea to Government to commit to tackling the North-South health divide as an urgent priority.

It comes following the launch of the Health for Wealth 2025: Building a Healthier North to Boost UK Productivity report last week, which provides compelling new evidence that poor health in the North is costing the UK economy an estimated £18.4 billion every year in lost productivity – a 13% rise since the original Health for Wealth report in 2018.

The report, published by the NHSA’s virtual institute Health Equity North, found that economic inactivity due to ill health is now 50% higher in the North than in the rest of England, and northern workers experiencing ill-health face wage losses nearly three times the national average.

In the letter to the Chancellor, northern leaders – including NHS Trust CEOs and university Pro-Vice Chancellors and Deans – ask the Chancellor to take forward the recommendations set out in report.

Some of the measures suggested include: implementing a cross-government Health Inequalities Strategy; targeted investment in mental health services, preventative programmes, and public health funding across the North of England; reforms to benefits and employment support that promote health and economic participation.

The report also advocates for regionally driven strategies with embedded health targets to tackle inequalities and ensure place-based solutions align with national goals.

The new findings reveal that improving physical and mental health through targeted policy reforms, proactive health initiatives and greater support for local authorities, can unlock substantial economic gains. In regions like the North East, improving population mental health alone could add £6.6bn to the economy.

Hannah Davies, Chief Executive of the Northern Health Science Alliance, said: “The evidence presented in our latest report clearly demonstrates that health and economic growth are tightly interwoven. If you improve people’s health and wellbeing, the economy will prosper.

“The health divide between the North and the rest of England has seen little improvement in the seven years since our original Health for Wealth report. Without urgent intervention and investment from government, these entrenched inequalities will persist. To enable more people to enter, remain in, or return to work after ill health, a broad suite of policy actions is needed to address the root causes of poor health in the North. We urge the Chancellor to consider our recommendations and work with us to improve health and drive economic growth in the region.”

Professor Louise Kenny, Board Chair of the Northern Health Science Alliance and Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences at the University of Liverpool, who has backed the letter, said: “The Chancellor has an opportunity with this budget to invest in the health of this country as a tool to unlock productivity and boost economic growth.

“The findings of the latest analysis from Health Equity North speak for themselves. The North-South health divide is not only a matter of equity, but it’s also holding back the entire economy. I, alongside many of my peers across the North, hope to see health recognised as a central pillar of the UK’s productivity and growth strategy, with investment targeted towards areas of greatest need.”

‘Health for Wealth 2025: Building a Healthier North to boost UK Productivity’ revisits the issues exposed in the landmark 2018 Health for Wealth report and explores how the landscape has changed over the last seven years.

It shows that regional inequalities in health, wages and economic inactivity have deepened since the 2018 report – a trend that began even before the COVID pandemic.

Read the full report, authored by HEN academics from Newcastle University, The University of Manchester, Lancaster University and Teesside University, at: https://www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/app/uploads/HEALTH-FOR-WEALTH-2025-EMBARGOED-FINAL-VERSION.pdf