Measures announced by the government, to give councils access to a brand new support grant for adult social care, have been welcomed by many leaders within the health service, but they do not believe it will be enough to pull the healthcare sector out of the crisis.
The care levy and a new grant.
Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, announced that councils can apply a 3% care levy over the next two years, as well as accessing a new grant, that will come from saving on the New Homes Bonus.
These new avenues of revenue are expected to inject approximately £900m into the struggling health sector, but Stephen Dalton, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has explained that this will do nothing to alleviate the immediate pressures that are currently being felt this winter.
Concerns raised by key health sector figures.
Dalton acknowledges that although these new announcements are very welcome and important, they, unfortunately, don’t go far enough in addressing the deeply rooted issues facing the NHS, and he has implored the government not to ignore the concerns raised by both local government and the NHS itself.
In some places, the NHS has fallen on their waiting times, response times and appointments and in some hospitals, they are even saying people are starving to death. A big problem when staying in your own home or local care home can be heating. Trying to keep the residents and patients warm can be difficult especially in winter. Getting some Aluminium Radiators UK products from sites including apolloradiators.co.uk/designer-radiators.
The lack of adequate social care is putting more pressure on hospitals, with patients not able to be discharged even though they are ready to go home. Clinical trial services are being conducted every day to bring important new treatments to the market, only for hospitals to continue struggling because of inadequate social care provisions. Dalton is calling for an immediate review into social care’s sustainability, as well as for information on how the funding gap is going to be addressed.
Concerns raised by councils.
In its plans, the government has stated that councils will be able to raise around £208m next year and £444m in 2018/2019, by applying the social care precept. However, it has been highlighted that the councils most in need of additional funding won’t benefit as much, because many properties fall into lower taxation bands.
For a long time, it has been clear to see that consecutive governments have avoided facing the challenges presented by the health sector, and these new measures have served to emphasize the requirement for essential reforms that must ensure the sustainability of social care.
