UK Arts & Health: The Time is Now

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20 April 2026, UK Parliament

This roundtable, held at UK Parliament on 20 April 2026, brought together policymakers, healthcare and cultural leaders, researchers, doctors, people with lived experience and artists to explore how the arts can play a more central role in advancing health and wellbeing across the United Kingdom and beyond.

Organizers

Co-Chairs

Dr. Simon Opher MBE MP

Labour MP for Stroud; Co-Chair of the APPG on Creative Health

John Slinger MP

Member of Parliament for Rugby

Alexandra Coulter

Director, National Centre for Creative Health

Stephen Stapleton

Founding Co-Director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab

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UK Arts & Health

The Time is Now

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About the Roundtable

On 20 April 2026, the Jameel Arts & Health Lab convened UK Arts & Health: The Time is Now in the Boothroyd Room at the House of Commons, in partnership with the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the National Centre for Creative Health, and with support from Arts Council England. Co-chaired by Dr Simon Opher MP, John Slinger MP, Alexandra Coulter and Stephen Stapleton, the roundtable brought together policymakers, healthcare and cultural leaders, researchers, clinicians, people with lived experience and artists to explore how the arts can play a more central role in advancing health and wellbeing across the UK and beyond.

The convening came at a moment of accelerating global interest in the health benefits of the arts, with growing attention from the World Health Organization, The Lancet, policymakers and practitioners alike. It asked how the UK, long a reference point for arts and health practice and research, can turn that momentum into lasting change across health, care and cultural policy.

Who Took Part

Prof. Daisy Fancourt of UCL opened the roundtable with a keynote drawing on her book Art Cure. Contributors included Dr Zubir Ahmed MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care; Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee; Dr Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England; Prof. Martin Marshall, Chair of the Nuffield Trust and the National Centre for Creative Health; Prof. Sir Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland; Manira Ahmad, Chief Officer of Public Health Scotland; and Dr Nils Fietje of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, alongside artists, practitioners and people with lived experience.

What Was Discussed

Cultural engagement as a health behaviour: with arts participation linked to lower rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness and frailty, yet only around one in 20 adults taking part on a given day, participants considered how creative engagement could be treated with the same priority as physical activity.
The UK as a global leader: WHO Europe highlighted international demand for UK models, as speakers shared programmes including Breathe Arts Health Research’s Melodies for Mums, Hospital Rooms, Rosetta Life, Poetry Pharmacy and Mortal Fools.
The arts as a health economic asset: discussion focused on the arts’ estimated £8–15 billion in annual economic and wellbeing value, with social returns of up to £8.56 for every £1 invested.
The translation challenge: participants explored how to bridge the different languages and structures of the NHS and the arts sector, with co-production with communities at the centre.

The roundtable also featured a screening of Healthier Together: Music for Maternal Mental Health, produced by BBC StoryWorks with the Jameel Arts & Health Lab.

Looking Ahead

The discussion pointed towards a set of shared priorities: a joint select committee inquiry into creative health, a cross-government national framework embedding the arts in health and care, creative health in clinical training, and national measures of cultural engagement that recognise creative participation as a core health behaviour.

Read the Post-Event Policy Brief

Voices from the Roundtable

A snippet of thoughts spoken at the convening

Dr. Zubir Ahmed

"The first mistake I made when I became a surgeon was thinking it was all about maths. Surgery taught me that it is about creativity. Creativity is inherent in all of us, and when you embrace it, you realise the impact you can have on patients and lives around you ... and over the past decade, I have embraced the arts in clinical care.”

John Slinger, Labour MP for Rugby

"As a musician, I’ve experienced the physical and mental benefits of the creative arts. They build skills, strengthen communities, bring joy and support the economy. However, as a politician I’ve learned evidence alone isn’t enough. We need a cultural shift that treats the arts as essential for all, backed by funding and long-term support."

Dr. Darren Henley CBE (CEO, Arts Council England)

"Art is a tonic. In a time when we spend a lot of time talking about technology, this is about our humanity. Art and artists are at the centre of that humanity. ... It’s all about how we become healthier and happier human beings."

Dame Caroline Dinenage DBE (Conservative MP for Gosport; Chair, Culture Select Committee; Co-Chair APPG on Creative Health)

"1.3 million people in the UK are currently unable to work due to mental health conditions—yet we know prevention saves NHS resources. Creative health has a proven role in supporting recovery and building resilience; the question is no longer whether it works, but whether governments are prepared to act systematically and invest.”