Watchdog warns NHS is ‘straining at the steams’
2 min read
The future of the NHS is under threat as services are “straining at the seams,” the official health watchdog has said.
The Care Quality Commission issued a stark warning over the “precarious” future of health provision in England, highlighting staff shortages, rising demand and the number of patients with preventable illnesses as the main pressure points.
In its annual report, the CQC warned that although standards have been maintained due to the efforts of staff, the quality of NHS and local authority care is likely to fall.
CQC chief executive Sir David Behan said: "We are going to see a fall in the quality of services that are offered to people and that may mean that the safety of some people is compromised."
He added that the service was "struggling to cope with 21st century problems" including increasing numbers of people with illnesses linked to lifestyle, like diabetes, dementia and heart disease.
"We are living longer but are not living healthier so I think what we are signalling is that the system now and into the future has got to deal with those increased numbers of older people who are going to have more than one condition," he said.
Sir David said ministers must urgently find a solution to funding social care while the Alzheimer's Society condemned "political inertia" on the issue, saying: “Last year the CQC delivered the stark warning that social care was approaching “tipping point”. This went unheeded and we are in the midst of a crisis where one in eight older people are not receiving the help they need, the number of beds in nursing homes are decreasing and a lack of funding is seeing home care providers exit the market in droves. It is only down to the dedication and hard work of health and care staff that the whole service hasn’t buckled under the strain."
However, Health Minister Philip Dunne insisted that the extra money already promised for social care, mental health and A&E services was enough.
He said: "With record funding and more doctors and nurses, the NHS was recently judged the best healthcare system in the world, despite the pressures from increasing demand.”
The Government will put forward a Green Paper on social care funding by the end of the year after providing an extra £2bn over the next three years to keep services going.
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