Quite simply, it is an understanding of the need for politicians to consider a realistic funding settlement for health and care services, delivered by high quality professionals, that the public expect and a civilised society should provide.
This afternoon Norman Lamb MP will propose a cross-party commission to review future funding and structure of health and care services in England in the House of Commons.
We welcome this proposal and consider it vital that politicians are engaged in the questions on the future of funding health and care, which to date, most have them been avoiding. Meanwhile thousands of junior doctors are planning to strike over the terms of the government’s proposed new contract, the crux of which is expecting more of them under increasingly pressured conditions at the same price. (We wrote about this further here).
NHS funding has been the subject of study, speculation and analysis for decades as the demand for healthcare has continued to rise. Social care has likewise been on the receiving end of both reviews and ever more demand, but being means tested, ever tighter criteria have been applied for state-funded care. However there has been no cross-party review of the ability of the NHS to cope with future demand, or a fresh deliberation of the options for funding and for sustainable, equitable health and care services. Policy makers need to be involved in consideration, scrutiny and the devising of proposals for a comprehensive NHS fit for the 21st century.
2020health's Blog 