27.06.13
Integrated care to be ‘concrete reality’ – Osborne
The health budget was protected in yesterday’s spending review for 2015/16, with £3bn set to be spent on integrated, jointly commissioned services.
Chancellor George Osborne said: “The NHS is much more than the Government’s priority, it is the people’s priority."
Charles Alessi, interim chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners, welcomed the move towards integration but warned: “This is not new money, and this means that from 2015 commissioners will have fewer resources to commission health services and that means less money for providers and less money for hospital beds.”
The NHS budget for 2015/16 will be £110bn, with capital spending rising to £4.7bn, Osborne announced. Many older people can “fall between the cracks” of the health and social care systems, and so the budgets will be brought together to ensure “a properly joined up service”.
Osborne explained: “Let’s stop the tragedy of people being dropped in A&E on a Friday night to spend the weekend in hospital because we can’t look after them properly in social care. By 2015-16, over £3bn will be spent on services that are commissioned jointly and seamlessly by the local NHS and local councils working together.
“It’s a huge and historic commitment of resources to social care, tied to real reform on the ground, to help end the scandal of older people trapped in hospitals because they cannot get a social care bed.
“This will help relieve pressures on Accident & Emergency. It will help local government deliver on its obligations. And it will save the NHS at least a billion pounds. Integrated health and social care: no longer a vague aspiration but concrete reality, transforming the way we look after people who need our care most.”
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt commented: “For decades we have been talking about better integrated health and social care services and today we’ve put our money where our mouth is.
“We need to work differently to respond to the changing needs of the population and that means making joined-up services the norm, not the exception.
“That’s why we’ve agreed extra money to meet growing pressures, but with conditions that ensure the money is spent where it is needed the most.”
And care minister Norman Lamb called it “a truly historic moment”. He added: “I am excited about the prospect of working with our integration pioneers to champion the integration of health and care services across the country, and this joint health and care budget will give local areas the freedom and encouragement to drive integration at the frontline.”
But Dr Peter Carter, chief executive & general secretary of the RCN said: “Changes which the RCN and other unions negotiated with the Government mean that NHS pay progression is already conditional on employees demonstrating they have the right skills, knowledge and performance.
“We will be seeking clarification from the Government that the end to automatic pay progression refers to these changes, which already took effect in the NHS from April this year. These increments reward hard working nurses and encourage the development of the workforce, and it is unfair to suggest that they are based simply on time served.
“The announcement of £3bn to be spent on services which are jointly commissioned by the NHS and local councils is a positive step towards greater integration of health and social care.”
Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Rather than see local health and social care budgets as separate, we need to support integrated care by bringing together providers and commissioners to look at how we can spend our money to the best effect.
“To make a real improvement to the care people receive, we have to change the way we do things in the future, and ensure the NHS is able to provide care at the right time, in the right places. This settlement means NHS organisations will have less money available in real terms for front line services, so the need to change services is now more pressing than ever.
“Maintaining the ringfence for the NHS is vital, but it is important that the health service gets to spend what is allocated to it.
“Long-term investment and innovation in healthcare needs to be seen as a key part of the country's growth strategy, not an anchor holding it down.”
Dean Royles, chief executive of the NHS Employers organisation added: “Despite a headline pay freeze, most NHS staff have been receiving incremental pay increases of around three per cent as they climb up through their pay bands.
“We need to engage with our staff and unions to explore how we can come out of a period of pay restraint in a sustainable way, recognising the significant contribution of our staff to delivering high quality patient care.”
Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of NHS England commented on the new joint funding for health and social care: “This is a very significant settlement for the NHS. It presents both opportunities and challenges. It is a potential ‘game changer’ as it gives us the opportunity to accelerate the development of integrated services. It means we can provide more joined-up care for care for patients with complex needs, enabling them to be supported at home.
“Merging health and social care budgets to support integrated care at a time when resources are constrained will require us to rethink how we organise services around patients. We need to begin formulating plans as soon as possible so that we are ready to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the 2015/16 settlement.”
(Library image: PA Wire)
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