Health commissioning groups in the Reading area will be holding a town meeting on Tuesday, 12th November from 7pm to 9pm at the Kennet Room (Reading Civic Centre). To book a place please phone 0118 982 2709 or send an email specifying the Reading Call to Action meeting on 12th November to nhs.calltoaction@nhs.net
This is a local initiative under NHS England's Call To Action.
The Call To Action describes the future increased demands and costs for healthcare and poses the challenge of how the NHS will go forward. The Call To Action assumes little increase in funding in real terms and continuing adherence to the principles of a national health service free at the point of delivery.. It suggests a shortfall in funding of £30 billions by 2020/21 despite efficiency changes worth £20 billions in the first NHS challenge.
The review of the NHS future covers avoidable deaths due to unhealthy lifestyles, the increase numbers of people living to great age, and the effects of health inequalities which are especially pronounced in the number of years of impaired health which people suffer.The contribution of technology is also considered.
Can NHS survive without a more equal society?
The NHS was created in 1948 and its principles date from that time. That followed a period of very harsh depression and unemployment and then the Second World War 1939-1945. To some extent the vast upheavals of the war, even in the relatively unscathed Britain, brought people together who would never have met in the normal course of life. People learned "how the other half lived" and the collective effort of the war, leading to the defeat of Fascism, gave hope and confidence that collective effort could succeed. The United Nations was created and in the terribly depleted and indebted (through military expenditure and diverted production) UK the NHS was created.
Today we see inequality growing and substantial costs for longer periods of impaired health in old age arising from inequalities in society. Income, housing, type of work, outlook, all have a tremendous effect on health. Tragically, Government ambitions to end child poverty have been put off.
The importance of equality is shown so clearly by the fact that a Government by no means leaning towards collective action is proposing to introduce free school meals for younger children. Inequality has become a costly and positive obstruction to maintaining health. Diet, habits, outlook and activities have become too different. Hungry children cannot learn well and children who do not learn to eat a healthy diet will not live well. Inequaliy is pressing up against the widely supported principles of the NHS. Can the NHS survive without a turn away from increasing inequality?
No increase in NHS spend - what nonsense.
In my view the assumption that NHS spending will not increase in real terms to 2021 is simply a softening up for destruction of the NHS. It is the kind of nonsense that we hear from hedge fund managers and tax cheats. We have an ageing population. Will pensions spend increase? Of course it will - Office of Budget Responsibility predicts a 28% increase in real terms spend from 2011 to 2021 and a 73% increase from 2011-2031, despite increases in the pension age and a change in indexation of state second pension from RPI to CPI. So of course pensions spend will increase with an ageing population AND SO WILL NHS SPEND.
Lets Start with Staffing Not Money
We could get a much better idea of what we need if we concentrated on the number and attributes of the staff that are likely to be needed. Money comes later but obscures the real issues.