We face a future of more demands on the health service at a time when we already see health inequalities and complaints about the non-acute care which older people receive in hospitals.

This is accompanied by a greater number of older people and a future fiscal regime which is likely to squeeze public sector spending.

Although the NHS budget is “ring fenced”, healthcare spending has to increase in real terms just to stand still. Even real term increases in health budgets may not meet the future demands for healthcare when you take into account a growing older population and increased incidence of chronic diseases.

This short discussion paper is not intended to answer questions about the future of health. Rather, ILC-UK are publishing this paper as the starting point for a debate on the future of health.

This discussion paper begins to explore questions around:

• The impact of an ageing society on healthcare provision and demand over the next 10 years?
• How health provision could change in the future?
• Given the changing landscape of health, how can we fund healthcare in the future?