Budget 2015: NHS budget 'will soon run into new difficulties' if preventative care is not protected

Dear Chancellor,

Budgets that take place soon after a General Election are often considered ‘Emergency Budgets’. Independent Age recognises this week’s Budget will focus on the long-term plan to secure the economic recovery at a time of global uncertainty. However we believe there is another type of emergency you need to urgently address. It is taking place in hundreds of thousands of households, but sadly, it often goes unnoticed.

It is the emergency that they need with support to wash, dress, make a meal and get out of the house, compared with the situation older and disabled people faced in 2009/10. 

It is also the emergency that means social services chiefs now report they expect fewer older people to receive the help they need to remain independent over the next two years.

Local authorities, like all other public bodies, need to spend money wisely. However, it should be a concern to all in government that spending on local services to prevent care needs from getting worse is going down – reduced in fact by 6% in 2015/16. This is a false economy when just a matter of months ago we were hearing about record levels of emergency admissions to hospital.

The Better Care Fund is a promising policy. We also look forward to seeing some of the results from the vanguard sites set up across England to join up health and social care.

But something is clearly going wrong: home help and care in the community needs to be given greater priority if the Government is going to fulfil the aspirations of the NHS 5 Year Forward View. If councils struggle to fund the services that prevent older people from experiencing avoidable admissions to hospital, the NHS budget will soon run into new difficulties.

It was reported over the weekend that you have explained Governments should only hold two budgets in the same year if they plan to do something radical and truly ambitious. In that vein, we would urge you to follow through on your convictions with respect to delivering improved care.

An ambitious agenda would mean that whatever cuts take place to local government budgets, funding for social care, like the NHS budget, gets protected in real terms.

If that can’t happen straight away, you could at least use this week’s Budget to signal to local authorities and health commissioners that they need to use the Better Care Fund to protect the crucial services that prevent and reduce the need for costlier care.