The SHA view is clear; the resources of the state must be used to protect its population. This is fundamental to the social contract which underlies every citizen’s relationship with the state. Labour’s first budget in 14 years comes after a period of extraordinary austerity. It must be unafraid to deal with this central issue. We all deserve better!
Compared with European health funding, which itself has been less than buoyant, health expenditure has fallen particularly when you take into account a growing and aging population.
This has been coupled by a collapse in social care which has already been extensively privatised and care homes further sold on to private equity outfits then rented back at extortionate rates. This threatens to be the future of the NHS.
The health service struggles with the legacy of expensive Private Finance Initiative contracts and a health market which sees millions diverted from public services into the pockets of private healthcare corporations. Sadly the process of corporate capture of health commissioning is well advanced.
This budget will be presented as a settlement for the NHS but It is reported by the Times newspaper that Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, that Labour couldn’t sell this as a Budget to save the NHS because it’s not enough money to make a transformative difference. “The amount of money you need just to stand still means that the health service will still struggle to see significant improvements in patient care and waiting times.”
Wes Streeting’s remarks are right; the New Labour market solutions he proffers are not.
Reports of cabinet rows suggest the crisis in local government will remain and will intensify with further austerity. That will have a dire impact on public health and social care.
Councils need to start building in house social care teams which offer good wages and proper professional development and high standards of care. This is not likely to be exceptionally expensive but is problematic for impoverished local authorities. It could be the start of a National Care Service.
The Nuffield Trust offers a more detailed analysis of the crisis facing the NHS. .
Picture above a Roman hoad of gold which lay untouched in an English field for 2000 years. It benefited no one.