50 signatures reached
To: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt
Proper investment in integrated health and social care
We support plans for an integrated NHS and social care service. Please provide proper investment to allow integration of NHS and social care services to work properly, instead of taking money from our hospitals. A credible integrated care strategy needs a credible investment strategy. We desperately need integration of health and social care services but it's not possible without adequate investment.
Why is this important?
Health and social care services are under huge pressure, largely due to our ageing population. Hospitals are struggling to balance their budgets and meet targets at a time of increasing demands, while social care is taking deep cuts and becoming a scandal-hit Cinderella service. If health and social care were integrated and more community services were developed, fewer old and vulnerable people would end up on trolleys in A & E or in hospital beds. The Government recognises this, but its Better Care Fund is taking money from hospital budgets to pay for these changes. All the main political parties agree health and care services need to be integrated. If integration is to function properly, it needs to be given sufficient funding to allow both sectors to work on equal terms to move relevant care services out of hospitals into the community. With proper investment and given time to work, the looming crisis in health and social care would be averted and we would all benefit from a fully integrated service.
