Labour’s Margaret Pinder says the report into NHS and Social Care divide should give us pause.
The Barker commission calls for a radical reform of the two systems merging health and social care to eradicate the current divide between NHS health provision – which is free at the point of delivery – and care homes and home support which are administered by local government and subject to means testing.
Unlike the Conservative-LibDem approach of reducing taxes and cutting public services, this independent report is bold in proposing various ways to fund the demand this would place on the public exchequer.
Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Beverley Margaret Pinder said;
“The findings and recommendations of the report of the independent Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England are in stark contrast to the policy trajectory of the current government.”
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said:
“The stark truth is this – if social care is allowed to continue to collapse, it will drag down the rest of the NHS. This is precisely what is happening under this government.”
Margaret a former Mayor of Beverley is supporting the proposals that will impact people across the country, she added;
“The proposals affect every local authority and should be welcomed as a call to improve care provision for the elderly in the East Riding.”
UKIP have already toyed with policies that threaten free delivery of NHS services and are unlikely to have much sympathy for changes that expand rather than reduce the costs of elderly care.
However, while Labour is actively looking at options for improving what Andy Burnham has dubbed ‘whole person care,’ concerns for the fate of the NHS under the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are hitting the headlines.
The EU Commission has made it clear that member states may exclude their health care provision from the TTIP, but David Cameron has announced that the Coalition has no intention of exempting the NHS from the agreement.
This confirms that the biggest threat to the NHS from the TTIP is not the trade agreement itself, but the UK Coalition government’s refusal to safeguard it from privatisation, especially privatisation that would benefit health care providers from the US.
This in turn could have serious implications for a future integrated health and social care system not only for residents of the East Riding, but across the nation.
