The Health Foundation podcast

Among children and young people, mental distress and common mental health conditions are on the rise in England. Once at their peak in midlife, levels of mental distress are now highest in early adulthood – affecting 1 in 4 young people by 2024. At the same time, many people are experiencing long waits to access NHS mental health support, while economic inactivity among 16–24-year-olds has been rising.  Published last month, the independent Fonagy review sheds new light on why this is happening. It rejects media narratives of a ‘snowflake generation’ and paints a complex picture of real increases in need, changes in awareness and recognition, and a health system not set up to respond effectively. So, what would better mental health support for children and young people look like? And how should national policymakers respond? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by: Peter Fonagy, Professor and Head of the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at UCL, and Chair of the review.  Norman Lamb, former Liberal Democrat MP and Minister of State for Care and Support, and author of Be more human: why mental health care is broken – and what we can do to fix it. Jennifer Dixon served as a topic group member on the independent review.Show notesDepartment of Health and Social Care (2026). Independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism: final report. Lamb N (2026). Be more human: why mental health care is broken – and what we can do to fix it. Health Foundation (2026). 20 years of policy for disadvantage: lessons for the future – with Moira Wallace. Health Foundation (2026). How to build young people’s health and participation in work and education: recommendations for government. Health Foundation (2025). Mental health trends among working-age people. Health Foundation (2025). Understanding the crisis in young people’s mental health. Haidt J (2024). The anxious generation: how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness.Health Foundation (2021). Inside the teen mind: what’s happening to mental health? – with Jean Twenge and Yvonne Kelly.

The headlines are bloodcurdling. AI ‘could wipe out humanity’, with varying probabilities attached to an extinction-level event. But what lies behind these apocalyptic predictions and how worried should we really be? In a high-risk area like health care, safe, responsible use of AI technologies will be critical. This month saw publication of the national commission’s final report into the regulation of AI in health care. The commission sets out a blueprint for regulation of AI in health care and calls AI ‘… one of the most significant opportunities to improve health care in a generation.’ So how does policy need to evolve to realise these opportunities and minimise the extraordinary risks? Our Chief Executive, Jennifer Dixon, is joined by Neil Lawrence, DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge and author of The Atomic Human, a book that explores what AI means for humanity and our identity. The National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare was established to advise the MHRA. Neil Lawrence and Jennifer Dixon served as members. Its final report was published in September 2026.Show notesUK government. National commission into the regulation of AI in healthcare. Health Foundation (2026). The public’s views on the regulation of AI in health care. HSJ (2026). Trust in AI matters more than efficiency to the public. Financial Times (2026). Medical AI has a proof problem. Health Foundation (2026). Testing and spreading AI in health care: the case for rapid revolution. Neil Lawrence (2024). The Open Society and its AI.

The government published its 10-Year Health Plan in July 2025, after a year in development. The plan sets out a vision to transform the NHS centred around three shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital and sickness to prevention. A year later, how are the government’s reform ambitions being implemented? With the NHS under considerable pressure, what progress are patients seeing on the ground? And what needs to happen now to accelerate delivery? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by: Birju Bartoli, Chief Executive, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Paul Dinkin, Director General for Strategy and Healthcare Policy, NHS England and Department of Health and Social Care. Amanda Sullivan, Chief Executive, NHS Derby & Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottingham & Nottinghamshire ICBs. The panel discussion The 10-Year Health Plan: can reform ambitions meet delivery reality? was recorded on 11 June 2026 at NHS ConfedExpo and is reproduced here in edited form with permission.Show notesHealth Foundation (2025). Dazed and confused? Policy ideas behind the 10-Year Health Plan. Health Foundation (2026). Labour 2 years in: progress so far and prospects for health and care reform. . Health Foundation (2026). Testing and spreading AI in health care: the case for rapid revolution.King’s Fund (2025). 1 year on, is the NHS 10-Year Health Plan being delivered?BMJ (2026). England’s 10-Year Health Plan: aligning hope with economic reality.

The Labour government has embarked on a reorganisation of the NHS in England. And now the Health Bill (also known as the ‘NHS Modernisation Bill’) has been introduced in parliament to effect the changes. Key provisions include merging NHS England into the Department of Health and Social Care, reforming data sharing to support creating a single patient record and shaking up patient voice functions by abolishing Healthwatch. But will any of this make a real difference to patients and the public? We take a closer look at what’s in the bill and what it really means, and ask how Wes Streeting’s departure as health secretary is likely to affect the government’s reform agenda. Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy and Research at the Health Foundation, is joined by: Clare Gerada, a GP and a crossbench peer in the House of Lords. Nicholas Timmins, an author and journalist who writes about the welfare state and the NHS and a senior fellow at the Institute for Government. Show notesUK parliament. Health Bill.  Department of Health and Social Care (2024). Independent investigation of the NHS in England: Lord Darzi's report on the state of the National Health Service in England.BMJ (2026). Health bill brings NHS management back into government.  NHS Assembly (2023). NHS in England at 75: Priorities for the future.  The King’s Fund (2026). Before the next bill lands: what history tells us about NHS reorganisation. Health Foundation (2026). Health bill hands power to ministers, but misses the biggest health challenges. 

Artificial intelligence is developing at breakneck speed, leaving governments around the world scrambling to respond. For a high-risk area like health care, safe, responsible use will be critical. But pressures on health systems mean governments can ill afford to delay adoption. So what's the right balance? And how can we ensure AI tools work in real-life health care settings and minimise unintended consequences?Following the 10-Year Health Plan, the government has established a National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare to explore these questions and make recommendations for how regulations need to adapt. To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by: Ricardo Baptista Leite, CEO of Health AI, a Geneva-based nonprofit that promotes equitable access to AI-powered health innovations. Alastair Denniston, Professor of Regulatory Science and Innovation at the University of Birmingham.  The National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare is established to advise the MHRA. It is co-chaired by Alastair Denniston. Ricardo Baptista Leite and Jennifer Dixon are members. Its final report is expected later in 2026. Show notesUK government. National AI Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare.Health Foundation (2025). AI in healthcare – staying ahead of the issues. Health AI (2026). AI governance in health – Global landscape 2025 report.  Health Foundation (2026). AI in healthcare must earn the public’s confidence. JAMA (2025). AI, Health, and Health Care Today and Tomorrow: the JAMA Summit Report on Artificial Intelligence.

In 1997, the New Labour government set up the social exclusion unit in the Cabinet Office. It was tasked with tackling what Tony Blair called ‘joined-up problems’ – social challenges like homelessness, school absence and exclusion, drug use and teenage pregnancy, which often have complex and interlocking causes. Analysis suggests many of the initiatives that followed had real positive impacts. So what lessons can be drawn for the considerable challenges we face today?In conversation with our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon, Moira Wallace – a former senior civil servant who led the unit – reflects on its work, the approaches it pioneered and how change was delivered on the ground. With near-record numbers of young people not in education, work or training – and public investment constrained – what options are available to the current Labour government? And how could changes to the wiring of government help to tackle this and other social challenges?Show notesWallace M (2023). Trends in adolescent disadvantage: policy and outcomes for young people under Labour, the Coalition, and the Conservatives (1997 to 2019). Wallace M (2025). Reducing school absence: innovation lessons from the last Labour government. Health Foundation (2024). Sure Start: a model for long-term policymaking? – with Naomi Eisenstadt and Donna Molloy.Health Foundation (2025). No child left behind: what the government’s child poverty strategy should aim to deliver. Health Foundation (2026). Why are a growing number of young people who are NEET reporting work-limiting health conditions?Resolution Foundation (2025). False starts: what the UK’s growing NEETs problem really looks like, and how to fix it. Teenage Pregnancy Knowledge Exchange and University of Bedfordshire (2025). Teenage pregnancy and young parenthood: successes, challenges and opportunities.

Surveys show rock solid public support for the basic principles of the NHS – universal, free at the point of use and mainly tax funded. Yet given widespread public dissatisfaction with the status quo, and non-traditional challenger parties gaining ground in the polls, can we take consensus on the NHS model for granted?In our second conversation exploring big trends in UK public opinion, we ask what public mistrust and a desire for change could mean for institutions like the NHS. How are policymakers to respond to the public’s concerns? And what could the rise of Reform UK mean for the NHS and wider health policy? Our Chief Executive, Jennifer Dixon, is joined by Rachel Wolf, CEO of Public First, a policy and strategy consultancy that researches public attitudes.

Surveys show rock solid public support for the basic principles of the NHS – universal, free at the point of use and mainly tax-funded. Yet given widespread public dissatisfaction with the status quo, and non-traditional challenger parties gaining ground in the polls, can we take consensus on the NHS model for granted?In the first of two episodes, we explore big trends in UK public opinion and ask what they reveal about attitudes to longstanding institutions, like the NHS. With 40% of the public saying it would let our public institutions ‘burn’, how should policymakers respond? And can pressure for quick results be balanced with long-term reforms? Our Chief Executive, Jennifer Dixon, is joined by Luke Tryl, UK Executive Director of More in Common, a research agency focused on public attitudes. 

The year saw the arrival of the long-awaited 10-Year Health Plan – a dizzying array of proposals spanning NHS structures, services, staffing and more. Government missions were downgraded; another review of social care was announced; and further hopes pinned on the transformative potential of tech. But how is progress overall? Is the government’s rhetoric on reform matching reality? And what should be at the top of government’s list of priorities in 2026?To discuss, our Chief Executive, Jennifer Dixon, is joined by:  Rachel Sylvester, Political Editor of The Observer.  Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy and Research at the Health Foundation.  Show notesHealth Foundation (2025). Dazed and confused? Policy ideas behind the 10-Year Health Plan. Policy Exchange (2025). The NHS – a suitable case for treatment? The Observer (2025). Poor families of babies brain-damaged at birth given lower payouts than richer parents. UK government (2025). 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future. Health Foundation (2024). Is the grass really greener? Health Foundation (2024). Priorities for an AI in health care strategy. Health Foundation. Public perceptions of health and social care. Times Health Commission (2024). Times Health Commission: A report into the state of healthcare in Britain today.UK government (2024). Plan for change: Milestones for mission-led government.

How can AI be implemented safely and effectively? We look to the US for clues. AI is going to have a huge impact on health and care. In England, the government’s 10-Year Health Plan aims to make the NHS ‘the most AI-enabled care system in the world’. But with AI innovations coming thick and fast, and the health technology market awash with unproven tools, how can implementation be done responsibly, ensuring patient safety, care quality and value for money?  The US leads the world in investment, development and implementation of AI in health services. So, what lessons can we learn from the American experience? What is the state’s role in regulating AI technologies in health; how can these innovations be robustly evaluated at speed; and how could AI be used to boost population health? To discuss, our Chief Executive Jennifer Dixon is joined by: Andrea Palm, former Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (2021–25) where she led the development of the Department’s strategic plan for AI in health and care. Andrew Bindman, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Kaiser Permanente, one of the US’s largest integrated health care systems.  Show notes Health Foundation (2025). Event: AI in the NHS 2025.  Health Foundation (2024). Priorities for an AI in health care strategy.  NEJM Catalyst (2024). Ambient AI scribes to alleviate burden of clinical documentation.  Kaiser Permanente (2025). AI in healthcare: 7 principles of responsible use.