It’s time to pull together to secure a sustainable future for the NHS and social care
The NHS and care sector is at breaking point. Demand for healthcare is rising inexorably as a result of a growing and an ageing population. More people are living with long-term conditions than ever before, while the cost of advances in medical treatment places further strain on the system.
Spending on health has been lower than the European and OECD average for many decades, and although the Coalition Government ensured that health spending was protected over the last five years, there is no doubt that this has been the toughest financial settlement in the history of the NHS. Meanwhile, social care services have suffered a cut in real-terms funding despite significant increases in demand (leading to greater pressure on hospital services which are already facing a projected £2.2bn deficit by the end of this financial year).
_________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Charity backs Norman Lamb MP's call for cross-party Commission on future of social care
_________________________________________________________________________
Patients are already feeling the effects of the crunch. The 62-day cancer waiting time target has not been met for more than a year. A&E units are consistently missing their 4-hour target. Delayed discharges have hit record levels because of a lack of community services. And the situation will only get worse.
The Government has committed to finding an extra £8bn for the NHS in this parliament (on top of the £2bn extra this year), but few experts believe that will be enough to keep services going. The respected Health Foundation has estimated a funding gap of £2bn in the NHS and £6bn in adult social care by 2020, without taking into account an additional £1bn cost of the increase to the minimum wage. The total shortfall in the NHS and care, according to the Health Foundation, will be £22bn by 2030.
On current projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility, there will be a reducing proportion of GDP spent on health in England up to 2020. Can this make any sense given rapidly rising demand?
We simply cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand any longer. The reality is that the system will drift into an ever deeper crisis unless we confront the challenge now. Yet public debate too often takes on a tribal, ideological complexion and is stifled by political objectives. We need to be pragmatic, dispassionate and open-minded in our approach. That’s why I presented a Ten Minute Rule Bill in Parliament this week, calling for the creation of an independent, non-partisan commission to examine the future of the NHS and social care services.
The commission would be time-limited, engaging with the public, patients, staff and civic society to come up with a new long-term settlement for the NHS and care. It would consider how the system can be better organised to reduce the current silos and inefficiencies, as well as looking at how much money is needed and how it can best be raised. Should we, for example, consider a dedicated health and care tax with the ability for local areas to vary it?
All parties would need to commit to this initiative for it to work, and I am pleased to be joined in this call by former Health Secretaries from the government and opposition benches, Stephen Dorrell and Alan Milburn. The response from members of the public has been really inspiring. The proposal has already been backed by leading health organisations including the NHS Confederation, 2020 Health, Care England, the Royal College of Surgeons, and NHS Survival – and I hope that this list will continue to grow!
In 1942, it was the great Liberal, William Beveridge, whose influential report formed the basis of the welfare state and the creation of the NHS. It is now time for a new Beveridge Report for the 21st century.
Please
sign the petitionto support the call for a commission