Responding to Secretary of State for Health and
Social Care ’s speech at the Conservative
Party conference, Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS
Confederation, which represents organisations across the
healthcare sector, said:
“The most important message of this speech was the
Secretary of State’s commitment to to rebalance our healthcare
system in England and provide more support in the community and
closer to home.
“Without this, the NHS is unsustainable. Even with
more money, we simply cannot afford to go as are.
“The health secretary is also right to highlight the
huge potential of technology which can change the way healthcare
is delivered very significantly in the next ten years. That will
require a new and much more vibrant partnership with industry -
he deserves real credit for championing this.
“And of course any extra funds for social care are
welcome. It is a sign that health ministers are fighting the
battle for social care within government. But as we approach
winter, we need to accept that social care is in a perilous state
- the market for providing care is incredibly fragile, with
operators pulling out or closing down. There is a risk of another
scandal such as Winterbourne View and we continue to see NHS
hospitals unable to discharge patients because there is nowhere
to support them in the community.
“More importantly, hundreds of thousands of
vulnerable people are unable to access the care and support they
need.
“Today’s announcement is no more than a stop gap - in
the Budget we need funding to address the current crisis and at
the very least a commitment to setting a long term funding
settlement.
“The evidence suggests social care needs nearly 4% a
year to meet the needs of an ageing population and an increasing
number of younger adults with disabilities.
“If it is to be true to its promises the Government
must produce fully-costed social care reform that goes
hand-in-hand with the upcoming NHS plan. Without this the health
service plan will fail.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
-
Securing the
Future: funding health and social care to the
2030s by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and
the Health Foundation, commissioned by the NHS Confederation,
said social care funding will need to increase by 3.9% a year
to meet the needs of an ageing population and an increasing
number of younger adults living with disabilities
