Health and Wellbeing Board	18 January 2023
Report of the Manager, Healthwatch York

Healthwatch York Report: Cost of Living: The impact of rising costs on people in York

Summary

1. This report is for the attention and action of Board members, sharing a report from Healthwatch York which looks at the results of a survey exploring the health impacts of the rising cost of living.

Background

2. Healthwatch York provides information and advice about health and care services, signposts people to support, and listens to their experiences when accessing health and care services. Recently there has been an increase in mentions of the cost of living when discussing health and care concerns.

3. We developed a survey and reached out through our local engagement activities and our partner organisations to share the survey widely.

4. We aimed to produce a report highlighting the day-to-day impact on local people’s health and wellbeing as a direct result of rising living costs and have shared this report to encourage further discussion of these challenges and consideration of ways we can collectively address them. We acknowledge the significant partnership work already underway to provide help, advice and information to those most directly affected. This partnership work is being coordinated and supported by City of York Council.

Main/Key Issues to be considered

5. Our report’s key findings are:

· People are struggling to heat their homes, often resulting in the worsening of existing physical and/or mental health conditions

· People are reducing the amount of nutritious food that they buy and are skipping meals due to rising food costs

· People with specific dietary requirements report an inability to afford the specialist foods they need

· Money is not stretching as far as it used to and people are already having to use their savings to pay bills

· People have less money for non-essential items and feel as though they are surviving rather than living

· People report increased isolation due to a lack of money to spend on social and leisure activities

· There is a general increase in anxiety around money and the uncertainty of the future often resulting in loss of sleep

· Many spoke of their worries about managing the cost of Christmas. This is negatively impacting people’s mental health as they feel they are letting their children down

· People report a sense of failure in not being able to support themselves and/or their families

· Those who are not personally struggling as a result of the rising cost of living are feeling worried about those who are

6. In addition to this work, the York Population Health Hub has produced analysis of the health impactsof the increased cost of living, including analysis of the most likely clinical areas affected (respiratory health, falls, hypothermia, CVD) and most likely communities in York, concluding geographical areas, to see the largest impact.

Consultation

7. In producing this report, we consulted the public through a short, simple survey. We also used the experiences people had already shared with us.

Options

8. There are no recommendations within this report, and no specific options for the Board to consider. However, when read alongside the Population Health Hub data pack around the cost of living, and the feedback from the Council’s cost of living summit, we hope it can help in the development of future options.

Implications

9. There are no specialist implications from this report.

· Financial

There are no financial implications in this report.

· Human Resources (HR)

There are no HR implications in this report.

· Equalities

There are no equalities implications in this report.

· Legal

There are no legal implications in this report.

· Crime and Disorder

There are no crime and disorder implications in this report.

· Information Technology (IT)

There are no IT implications in this report.

· Property

There are no property implications in this report.

· Other

There are no other implications in this report.

        Risk Management

10. There are no risks associated with this report.

        Recommendations

11. The Health and Wellbeing Board are asked to:

i. Receive Healthwatch York’s report, Cost of Living: The impact of rising costs on people in York

Reason: To keep up to date with the work of Healthwatch York and be aware of what members of the public are telling us

Contact Details

Author:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Siân Balsom Manager Healthwatch York 01904 621133	Siân Balsom Manager Healthwatch York
	Report Approved	P	Date	05.01.2023
Wards Affected:  All					All	P
For further information please contact the author of the report

Annexes:

Annex A – Cost of Living: The impact of the rising cost of living on people in York

Background Papers

https://www.healthyork.org/media/77761/anonymised-phh-cost-of-living-health-data-pack-002-.pptx