The Autumn Statement - joint statement on health & social care - Nuffield Trust/The health Foundation/The King's Fund
This document is very succinct and makes the following plea to the Chancellor three times in the introduction, in the body of the statement with evidence and then in the conclusion. The NHS and social care are under strain. The minimum that can be done to ease the pressure is to bring forward the additional Better Care Fund money planned for 2018/19 and not wait until just before the planned date of the next general election. Beyond that a fundamental reform of the social care system is needed. The current roughly 1% increase in NHS spending, year on year, is not enough to maintain standards, meet rising demand and deliver the transformations needed to match the aspirations of the NHS 5YFV. Productivity savings are possible but nothing like to the extent of the £22b planned and the "extra £10b" is nowhere near that much (more like £4.6b but accounts vary) promised by 2020/21. Inflationary pressures caused by the 20% devaluation of Sterling will make pay restraint in the NHS harder to sustain and also needs to be factored in to existing spending plans.
If none of this is possible then politicians will have a duty to be more honest with the public about how access to and the quality of services will be affected by their decisions.
