The upcoming spending review needs a “critical leap of logic”, and investment in social care and public health, an expert has urged.
Today, Stephen Dorrell, former secretary of state for health and chair of the Health Select Committee and current NHS Confederation chair sent a letter to the chancellor of the exchequer urging for a “critical leap of logic” in the upcoming spending review.
He wrote that: “To have NHS budgets rise while social care budgets fall is bad economics and bad social policy. Without investment in social care and public health, unnecessary pressure is being placed on other parts of the service, including hospitals leaving an already significant dent in the £8 billion promised to the NHS.
“Reshaping how care is delivered to patients must be a priority for this parliament… In the spending review the government must take a bold step to ring-fence budgets for health and social care and make the commitment to transforming patient care a reality,” he added.
Yesterday Chancellor George Osborne announced that the transport, local government and environment departments, plus the Treasury, have all agreed deals ahead of the spending review on 25 November.
While the health budget is protected, the social care budget is not.
Dorell argued that Osborne’s announcement “shows how close we are to the final decision on the spending review – there is no time to waste”.
