NHS and social care facing winter ‘crunch’

THE NHS and social care system are in the “most perilous position in memory”, a group of leading charities has warned.

The Richmond Group of Charities said the systems were reaching “crunch point” which could mean the NHS and social care services are “completely unable to respond to local needs in a growing number of places”. It said pressure has been building for years but the pandemic “bombshell” has “turned cracks in the system into gaping chasms”.

Meanwhile, there has been “little time” for the NHS and social care system to recover and it is now facing “spiralling costs” and pressure on staff recruitment and retention.

The Richmond Group of Charities includes Age UK; Alzheimer’s Society; Asthma and Lung UK; Breast Cancer Now; British Heart Foundation; British Red Cross; Diabetes UK; Macmillan Cancer Support; Rethink Mental Illness; Royal Voluntary Service; Stroke Association and Versus Arthritis. The charities have written to the Prime Minister demanding increasing cash for the struggling sectors.

“As charities working with more than 14 million people in England who live with long-term health conditions, we believe that the NHS and Social Care system is now in the most perilous situation in living memory. Increased funding is crucial,” they wrote.

They warned that the “shocks” to the system have come at a time when the NHS and social care system had hoped to be moving forward with reforms to help address rising demand from older people and those with long-term health conditions. But it is now harder to achieve these ambitions, they said.

Duleep Allirajah, chief executive of the Richmond Group of Charities, said: “The pandemic and cost-of-living crisis has dealt a disastrous double blow to those facing chronic health conditions, which threatens to leave a legacy of suffering and poor health in this country for decades.

“Our new report shows how since the pandemic, the needs of people living with multiple long-term health conditions are now often much more complex and profound than before.

“The extra demands being placed on the NHS and social care as a result were neither predicted nor factored into the last Government Spending Review, and the resulting gap in resources is causing enduring distress and pain to the individuals affected and hurting our economy too.”

He added: “Right across the country, we are deeply worried that we could hit a ‘crunch point’ this winter, with the NHS and social care services completely unable to respond to local needs in a growing number of places. We must avoid that catastrophe at all costs – the Autumn Statement provides the Prime Minister and the Chancellor with the opportunity to take decisive action.”

Fewer than half of NHS trusts will meet key recovery targets on waiting lists and cancer as services buckle under pressure, according to a new report. A poll of health trust leaders for NHS Providers found nearly half (46%) strongly agreed or agreed they were on track to meet elective recovery and cancer targets by the end of the financial year. A further 37% neither agreed or disagreed; a quarter (24%) disagreed or strongly disagreed they could hit targets put in place after the pandemic. NHS waiting lists for treatment in England continue to hit record levels, with 7.1 million people on the overall waiting list and cancer targets routinely missed.