Prevention is the New Cure

Latest Episodes:

86. Jabs payments missing the point Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Can we "prescribe" our way out of a national health crisis?

In this episode, former Health Ministers James Bethell and Steve Brine are joined by Charlotte Refsum (Head of Health at the Tony Blair Institute) to dissect the week's biggest headlines in health policy.

In this episode:

The Tobacco & Vapes Bill: Why 74 Tories voted against the generational smoking ban.
The "Fat Jab" Debate: Should GPs be paid to prescribe GLP-1s, or is there a better way?
National Security: Why "Vaccine Sovereignty" is as important as energy or food security.
NHS Tech: Why the NHS App feels like it’s built for the system, not the patient.

🎧 Listen, subscribe, and join the conversation

📩 Email: preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com

📱 WhatsApp the show: 0333 404 6507

Did you know? This podcast is one of the top health and social care podcasts around. Help make us #1 by following our show today.

This episode is produced by Shortbread Media; producer, Calum Macdonald.

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

85. Health tech good news and NHS prescribing puppies? Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Prevention is the New Cure, former Health Ministers Steve Brine and James Bethell chat to Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King's Fund.

Sarah Woolnough argues that health is not made in hospitals — it is shaped by housing, education, environment and regulation. The discussion explores whether the UK needs a fundamental shift away from a “sickness service” towards long-term health investment.

🔍 Key topics include:

Whether Keir Starmer’s proposed social media age limits represent real reform or political signalling
The impact of the Online Safety Act 2023 on child protection
A new £20m addiction and gambling prevention fund
Why health tech innovation struggles inside the NHS
Whether NICE’s new HealthTech Access Programme could transform adoption
Why prevention always loses to acute pressures like A&E and GP access
The political risks of continuing to expand NHS spending without structural reform

Plus: why dog ownership may reduce dementia risk by 40%.

This episode celebrates the third anniversary of the podcast!

Steve and James look back on the different iterations of the show and reflect on three years of the best health and politics podcast around!

🎧 Listen, subscribe, and join the conversation

📩 Email: preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com

📱 WhatsApp the show: 0333 404 6507

Did you know? This podcast is one of the top health and social care podcasts around. Help make us #1 by following our show today.

This episode is produced by Shortbread Media; production Tim Pont / Calum Macdonald.

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

84. NHS Boss Sir Jim Mackey on Prevention, GP Health Checks & his future Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Prevention is the New Cure, former Health Ministers Steve Brine and James Bethell sit down with Sir Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England, for a wide-ranging and candid discussion about the future of the NHS.

Sir Jim addresses the crisis facing NHS demand, the limits of hospital-centric care, and why prevention, neighbourhood health systems, and disruptive reform are essential if the NHS is to survive the next decade.

🔍 Key topics include:

Why the NHS “can’t carry on doing things the same way”
The reality behind the 10-Year NHS Plan
Shifting funding from hospitals into community and preventative care
The future of GP health checks — and why GPs are divided
Can prevention really reduce demand on hospitals?
NHS productivity, technology, and patient-owned data
Lessons from Northumbria’s whole-system health model
The role of community pharmacy in prevention
Resident doctors’ strikes and workforce morale
Maternity safety, regulation, and patient trust
How political instability impacts NHS decision-making
oh and his beloved Newcastle Football Club!

This episode goes beyond slogans and gets into the hard trade-offs facing health leaders: money, workforce, culture, and whether the NHS can truly shift from crisis response to prevention.

🎧 Listen, subscribe, and join the conversation

📩 Email: preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com

📱 WhatsApp the show: 0333 404 6507

Did you know? This podcast is one of the top health and social care podcasts around. Help make us #1 by following our show today.

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

83. Can the NHS deliver its new National Cancer Plan? Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

A special episode this week of the health and politics podcast, Prevention is the new cure, as Ministers finally publish the National Cancer Plan.

Steve & James talk exclusively to NHS National Clinical Director, Professor Peter Johnson, about the ambition which says 75% of people diagnosed from 2035 will survive long term and meeting the 62-days cancer waiting time standard by the end of this Parliament. In a wide-ranging conversation, they also talk wider cancer prevention, multi-cancer detection tests and the cancer workforce.

And Professor Johnson responds to today's story that testing menstrual blood for signs of cervical cancer could be a new and accurate way of screening for the disease.

In their look at this week's main news in health and politics, the former Ministers consider reports in The Times (£) which claim an 86,000 drop in waiting lists heralded by Ministers was achieved only by removing thousands of patients from the waiting list through a process known as ‘validation'. And they consider the political implications of the BMA's ballot renewal which could see further strike action by Resident Doctors.

You can find former episodes via Podfollow and get us on all our social media channel via LinkTr.

Please remember to follow our show and thanks for listening!

Co-hosts: Steve Brine & James Bethell

Episode producer: Calum Macdonald

This episode is produced as part of the Shortbread Media family of podcasts.

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

82. Stroke prevention day Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

Steve & James return with episode 82 of the health and politics podcast, Prevention is the new cure.

This week, to mark Stroke Prevention Day on Thursday, the guys talk to Juliet Bouverie from the Stroke Association about signs, symptoms and red flags.

And they look ahead to the long-awaited National Cancer Plan which is expected to be published next week. What can we expect from the first plan since 2018?

Also on this episode; the WHO confirms the UK has lost its measles elimination status, James speaking at the counter-fraud conference next month and NHS England is set to significantly enhance its bowel cancer screening programme, aiming to detect thousands more cases at an earlier, more treatable stage.

You can access the archive via Podfollow and find us on all social at our LinkTree page.

You can email the team - preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

81. James leads the charge on kids social media ban Jan 22, 2026

Show notes

Steve and James return with episode 81 of the health and politics podcast, Prevention is the new cure.

They chat just hours after James (Lord Bethell) led the charge on a debate in the House of Lords which saw Peers vote through an amendment which would ban under-16's from social media across the UK.

Also, as nearly a quarter of hospitals in England report waiting times have worsened since the government published its plan to tackle the backlog a year ago, the pair discuss whether Ministers have chosen the right path given A&E waits - and corridor care - continue to hit the headlines.

And, given the ongoing broader debate around immigration policy as the main parties chase Reform, Steve's Thursday rant focuses on health and care workforce shortages and asks whether we have a race to the bottom healthcare recruitment which is harming the service in the short-term.

Finally, in good news corner, Steve and James talk about an international trial that is examining whether a finger-prick blood test called Bio-Hermes-002 could be used to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease. BBC News story link.

You can email us : preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com

You can listen to our archive via Podfollow and find our social media channel via LinkTree. And our You Tube channel is here.

Thanks for listening!

Love Steve and James

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

80. Wes Streeting says - get it right first time! Jan 16, 2026

Show notes

The health and politics podcast reaches its 80th episode! Steve and James discuss Kemi Badenoch's social media ban proposal, the high-wire act of negotiating a new GP contract and what Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, meant when he cited GIRFT (get it right first time) at a major conference this week.

Also, this week saw a genuine medical breakthrough as a patient at Manchester Royal Infirmary became the first in the UK to receive a new CAR-T treatment for aggressive blood cancer. The pair discuss what this means.

And James owns up to progress on his 'Dry January' efforts this year!

We welcome your feedback on our discussions and suggestions for what we might discuss next and who we might interview. You can email preventionisthenewcure@gmail.com or find us on any of our social media channels.

You can access our archive via Podfollow.

Thanks for listening to our show.

Love Steve & James

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

79. Henry Dimbleby on food and health Jan 09, 2026

Show notes

For their first episode of 2026, Steve & James pick over the big stories in health and politics this week including the new NHS Online service, junk food advertising ban and the rollout of a new chicken pox vaccine for children.

They also pick up on a huge story concerning Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) after Little Mix star, Jesy Nelson, said her twins had been diagnosed with the rare muscle disease. We talked to Giles Lomax from the charity SMA UK in February 2025 for episode 49.

And we have a great guest to start the year as the author of the UK government's National Food Strategy, Henry Dimbleby, pops in for a chat about 'fat jabs' and how we might get ourselves, and the planet, into shape at the start of the new year. Find Henry on X here.

You can access our archive via Podfollow and find all our social media channels via LinkTree.

Please follow our show for regular updates and get in touch - preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

Steve & James

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

78. Helen pops in for a festive game with a Kiwi twist Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

After a busy year, which saw Steve team up with Lord James Bethell for chapter three of THE health and politics podcast, it's time for some festive fun as an old friend joins.

Original co-host, Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, dials in from her home in New Zealand to play a special game of snap with a Kiwi twist - Yeh / Yeh-Nah - which looks at the current similarities between the two countries in health and politics. Discussion ranges from health service reorganisation and workforce strife to public health outbreaks.

And Pod Surgery makes a one-off return as the pair discuss the flu epidemic hitting England's hospitals and whether it really did come from the southern hemisphere?

You can find our archive courtesy of our Podfollow and follow all our social media channels via our LinkTree page. You can get in touch with the team:

preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening to our show!

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

77. How bad is the flu epidemic in our hospitals? Dec 11, 2025

Show notes

The main story in health and politics this week is the gathering flu epidemic and the impact it is already having on the acute sector. Steve and James talk to Dr Adrian Boyle, immediate past President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, to get a view from the front-line.

They also give their reflections on masks in public (disagree on cycle helmets!) and consider the maternity safety story also making the news this week as Baroness Amos releases her initial findings on her National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.

And finally, as it's their last episode together before the Christmas break, the pair consider their end of year awards and predictions for 2026.

Thanks for listening; please follow our podcast so it appears in your feed each time a new episode drops.

You can get in touch preventionisthenewcurepodcast@gmail.com and find our many social media channels via our LinkTree page.

Email: podcast@stevebrine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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