The health effects of Sure Start recognised

New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that Sure Start centres have reduced the number of children taken to hospital and delivered substantial savings to the NHS.

However, despite their success in having a largely positive impact on children’s health, the think tank warns that funding has been cut and 500 sites have closed, with the Local Government Association saying that councils have ‘done all they can within ever tightening budgets’.

Examining the effect of Sure Start, an early intervention policy designed to support the well-being of children before they started school, the report finds that the provision of Sure Start centres ‘significantly reduced’ the incidence of children going to hospital up to the age of 11. The study found that for every one Sure Start centre per thousand children there were 5,000 fewer hospital admissions for 11-year-olds each year.

It also highlighted its effect in reducing health inequalities, with the report claiming that, ‘since the benefits are biggest in the poorest neighbourhoods, access to Sure Start can help close around half the gap in hospitalisations between rich and poor areas’.

Furthermore, direct savings through fewer hospital visits saved the NHS approximately £5 million, or about 0.4 per cent of annual Sure Start spending. When the lifetime health savings of avoiding childhood injuries were factored in, the level of savings reached six per cent of the Sure Start budget.