15 Jul 2024 BANT urges the new Health Secretary to deliver on his pledge for prevention focused healthcare
BANT welcomes the Labour Government and urges the new Health Secretary to deliver on his pledge for prevention focused healthcare
The British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) has responded to the new Labour Government:
BANT CEO Satu Jackson said: “We congratulate the Labour Party and new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and look forward to working together under the new Government. BANT welcomes the opportunity to meet with the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting and his team to deliver on the Labour manifesto pledge to shift the health system focus towards prevention and build an NHS fit for the future, a vision shared by BANT as outlined in our manifesto.
BANT calls for these commitments to now be transformed into action.
Previous governments have failed to adequately invest in prevention. As a result, the NHS is dangerously understaffed, and overburdened with many serious, but preventable diet and lifestyle-driven chronic diseases. Yet, there is currently no provision for nutritional therapists in the NHS – BANT seeks to urgently address with the new Health Secretary.
BANT represents 2,500 PSA-accredited Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners within its broader membership of 3,500 nutrition professionals – presenting an untapped opportunity to scale up and build capacity within the NHS workforce. By bringing nutritional therapists into primary care and outpatient settings, they would relieve the burden on General Practitioners at the ‘front door of the health service’ and align with the Labour vision for excellent primary care.
BANT firmly believes that nutrition provision needs to be at the heart of any strategy to refocus our health system towards prevention.
Notes to editor:
Read more about the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine’s manifesto asks of the new Labour government: https://bant.org.uk/bant-manifesto/
BANT is the leading professional body for Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners in one-to-one clinical practice and a self-regulator for BANT Registered Nutritionists®. BANT members combine a network approach to complex systems, incorporating the latest science from genetic, epigenetic, diet and nutrition research to inform individualised recommendations. BANT oversees the activities, training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of its members.
Registered Nutritional Therapists are regulated by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) that holds an Accredited Voluntary Register (AVR) for the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). A report by the Royal Society for Public Health and the Professional Standards Agency made a key recommendation that AVR practitioners have the authority to make direct NHS referrals, in appropriate cases, to ease the administrative burden on GP surgeries. BANT nutrition practitioners are the key workforce asset to harness 21st-century lifestyle medicine to tackle the rising tide of stress-related fatigue, obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, dementia and other chronic diseases.
To find a BANT nutrition practitioner, please click here
BANT WELLBEING GUIDELINES:
The BANT Wellbeing Guidelines are specifically designed to provide clear, easy-to-understand general information for healthy diet and lifestyle when personalised advice is not available.
Alongside these guidelines, the BANT “Food for your Health” free open-access resources are available to educate and guide the public towards healthier food choices in the prevention of diet-induced disease. Download a wide range of food and lifestyle guides, recipes, infographics, planning tools and fact sheets and start making healthy choices today.
