05.09.18
Government will 'consider proposals' for ring-fenced health and social care funding in latest response
The government has published its response to the Health and Social Care Committee’s calls for ring-fenced transformation funding for health and social care, claiming “it will consider proposals” for a multi-year capital plan to support the transformation.
In a report published today, the government outlined its response and plan of action to calls from MPs in June to ringfence cash and create a ‘national transformation strategy’ for health and social care, noting that it expects the NHS to set out how the NHS will use the new boost in funding announced by Theresa May in June to deliver the transformation across the country.
The response wrote: “As part of this long-term plan, the NHS will produce a workforce plan which is our opportunity to support more joined up working in the health and social care systems to ensure we have the capacity and capability to successfully respond to the ever increasing, and complex, needs of the population through new integrated models of care.
“By developing this workforce plan as part of the NHS long-term plan we can ensure the NHS has the right numbers and skills to deliver the care of the future.”
In the Health and Social Care Committee’s recommendations for improving integrated care, MPs also noted the government should also bring forward legislative proposals to “overcome current fragmentation and legal barriers” arising out of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
In its response, the government said: “We accept the Committee’s recommendation that any legislative proposals should be led by the health and care community. As the Prime Minister made clear in her speech in June 2018, the government must learn the lessons of the past and not try to impose change.
“Therefore, the government will consider amending the legislation where the NHS identifies a clear need to do so in order to improve services for patients including where legislation is making it harder for professionals from different parts of the NHS and different local authorities to work together to integrate care.”
The acceptance of the recommendations comes at a time when health bosses were concerned about the prioritising of social care in Theresa May’s extra £20bn a year by 2023 announced in June. Matt Hancock’s reluctance in July to commit to a social care cash boost only compounded those fears.
Today, however, the government looked to alleviate those concerns: “We agree that one of the opportunities arising from system-based approaches to integrated care is the ability to better manage collective resources. In light of this, NHS England is developing tools, examples and templates to help STPs make better use of their collective resources, drawing on the experiences of the first integrated care systems, the vanguard sites and other recognised good practice.
“We also agree that STPs cannot be a substitute for adequate NHS funding overall. The five-year funding settlement recently announced by the Prime Minister will make a material difference in this respect.”
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