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Creative health should be integral to the government’s plan for the NHS in England, the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) has said.

In a response to Lord Darzi’s independent investigation of the NHS in England, NCCH says creative health can help address some of the themes and issues raised in the report.

The centre says creative health can be used to address a rise in poor mental health, challenges in social care and relieve some of the pressures associated with ill health and long-term medical conditions.

It uses examples including singing programmes supporting people with COPD or long Covid, dance reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and music and movement being used in stroke rehabilitation.

With Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicating reforms to rebuild the NHS will include a move towards more care in communities rather than hospitals, NCCH’s response also reiterates the role of creative health in prevention, citing how playing a musical instrument reduces cognitive decline and dementia.

“We believe creative health is a vital part of this community-based multidisciplinary model. A skilled and passionate creative health workforce already operates largely in neighbourhoods and communities,” NCCH says. “People can access these services directly or through social prescribing, which has been shown to improve health outcomes and reduce demand on healthcare services.”

NCCH adds creative health can be used to also support NHS staff, improving wellbeing and reducing stress and anxiety, or supporting those experiencing burnout.

The centre’s closing message to the government says embedding creative health in systems will reduce pressure on the NHS in the short-term, by offering cost-effective non-clinical interventions that empower patients and reduce demand on services, while creating the conditions for people to live healthier lives in the long-term.

A research project is supporting a set of museums and galleries to make their collections more accessible for people with disabilities.

The Sensational Museum is a £1m project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It will support museums in creating sensory interventions that are accessible to all and created for people who cannot experience museums in traditional ways.

According to the project’s website, twelve museums, galleries, archives and heritage sites are involved in the pilot.

Among them is Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which is planning four workshops in September and October.

The museum’s Head of Public Engagement and Learning, Sarah-Jane Harknett, told the BBC it will work with local people to "shape not just this museum, but museum practice".

"It will be the ideas from the participants that will really help make it more engaging, more accessible, just better for lots of different people," Harknett said.

The Sensational Museum project will also work to showcase best practice examples of museums and heritage sites across the UK.

The operators of Beck Theatre in Hayes have said the venue's future is uncertain due to a breakdown in contract negotiations with the London Borough of Hillingdon Council (LBH).

Trafalgar Theatres, which has operated the council-owned 600-seat venue for over 15 years, has revealed plans to "begin exit preparations" in January 2025.

In an agreement that expired in July 2022, Trafalgar Theatres pays no rent to use the building as LBH subsidises the cost.

After agreeing to a temporary two-year extension, Trafalgar and the council have been negotiating terms of a new contract as the council expressed a wish to "seek new operating arrangements" and stop subsidising a "privately owned commercial entity".

Trafalgar says it proposed a three-year trial arrangement to determine whether running the venue without subsidy would be viable. However, it asked that the council bear the cost of building repairs, giving a deadline of 13 September for a response.

"Despite us meeting with them in August and contacting them again ahead of the deadline, LBH did not respond in time," said Trafalfgar.

"When LBH did respond, their ‘final position’ was for a period of nine months, and they also sought to limit their responsibilities for the physical fabric of the theatre.

"The effect of this would have been to transfer asset liabilities onto us, which, given the removal of any financial support, we found unreasonable.

"We also felt that a period of nine months was far too short for us to trial the new arrangement. As a result, we confirmed our intention to begin exit preparations at the end of our current contract."

A building surveyor from Bristol has been sentenced to six and half years in prison after being convicted of 28 offences relating to over £1m of false invoices to the National Trust.

Roger Bryant, 73, of Coombe Close in Barnstaple, Devon was employed by the National Trust as a building surveyor and was responsible for a budget of more than £500k a year.

Between January 2008 and October 2013, he submitted invoices to the organisation for building work that was not completed.

The charity believed it was paying two companies, JR Contracting and SB Construction, for work that had been completed but later discovered payments to both firms were being made to bank accounts controlled by James Bryant.

The National Trust made 148 payments totalling £1,125,304.86 before the fraud was discovered in October 2013 when the charity sought to update its approach to procurement.

Judge Burgess KC called Bryant’s offences “audacious and protracted” and noted his position of trust within the organisation.

Following the trial, the National Trust said it was "pleased with the outcome".

"We trust our staff to do their jobs efficiently and honestly which is vitally important to an organisation responsible for looking after many different places in such a wide geographical area," it said.

"We have all been very shocked at the crimes committed by a trusted member of staff."

Bromley Council has accepted an offer for Churchill Theatre in a move it says will secure the venue's future.

The 781-seat venue is currently owned by the council and has been managed by Trafalgar Group since 2017.

Following concerns that the theatre’s 1970s structure was “beyond economic repair”, the council announced plans to update it in October 2023, with an estimated cost of up to £28m.

Initially, the council intended to transfer the freehold of the building to Trafalgar Group. However, the authority revealed in March that it would be opening it up to bids from private developers and later listed the freehold on Rightmove for unconditional offers.

Council Leader Colin Smith previously said that while he hoped Trafalgar would still win the bid, there was a duty of care to ensure they “raise as much revenue as possible for the council’s taxpayers” and insisted that whatever the outcome, the site will retain a “fully provisioned” theatre operating to the existing standards of the Churchill. 

The council’s executive has agreed to the proposed offer. Once legal agreements are finalised, the bidder’s identity will be made public.

Speaking about the successful bid, Councillor Yvonne Bear said: “This is very welcome news, not just for the theatre and everyone who values it but also for Bromley town centre as a whole and for council taxpayers.

“This is a compelling and exciting opportunity to secure the future of the theatre for generations to come. We look forward to working with the theatre and the developer in the coming months and will share more news when we can.”

Helen Enright, Chief Executive Officer of Trafalgar Theatres, said: “We are excited about the future of the Churchill Theatre and will be pleased to work with the bidder to develop Bromley’s theatre offering."

The Tyne Theatre and Opera House has been awarded £500,000 as part of Creative Central NCL, a project funded by the North East Combined Authority and Newcastle City Council to develop creativity and culture in the city.

The funding will allow the venue to embark on enabling works for a development project to create a black box performance space in its Grand Saloon and new café/bar area. 

The new stage will be adaptable and able to serve as a space for meetings, rehearsals and workshops.

Project Director David Wilmore said: “These enabling works are a crucial step forward in the journey to securing the future of this significant heritage venue.

"The progress made by this project will allow us to lay the foundations for continued development when the Tyne Theatre & Opera House will create a significant number of new jobs.”

CEO Jonathan Higgins thanked the theatre's audiences for their support: "The income generated from ticket sales, hospitality, donations and our Friends Club membership scheme has also played a crucial role in allowing us to fund this project," he said.

"We look forward to being able to welcome even more people through the doors to our new café bar this autumn and to reopening the re-envisioned black box space for the benefit of audiences and the local community.”

Creative Central NCL will grant £1.7m of funding from 2022-2027 to projects in the city centre. It is one of three Cultural and Creative Zones in the region funded by the North East Combined Authority.