The Health and Social Care Bill currently in the House of Lords is intended to: sort out the under-funding of social care; remove the need for people to sell their houses to pay for their care; promote joined-up service delivery; replace the competitive model with a collaborative one. Sadly, as I wrote here, it appears […]
social care
No need to break any election pledges to fix social care
So, the Government is to pour more and more money into the first aid camp at the bottom of the cliff rather than building a fence at the top. Yesterday’s announcement on the funding for social care does nothing to enhance the quality of life of older people or reduce the demand for hospital treatment […]
Munira Wilson: Coercion is not the answer to vaccine hesitancy
Last night, Liberal Democrat MPs voted against the Government’s Statutory Instrument which made vaccinations compulsory for care home staff. Munira Wilson, our health spokesperson, had a right go at the Government for its approach, pointing out that the care sector had long been undervalued and the Government’s approach had let down so many staff and […]
Boris on Care: wrong words, right target
The corporate voice of the care sector is up in arms about the PM’s comments on care. Of course, his remarks about care homes, not following procedures were sly and clumsy, but he is right that the care sector should shoulder some of the blame for the virtual decimation of their aged residents. Clap for […]
Sal Brinton on Government “lie” on care homes and Covid-19
Lie is not a word anyone in politics uses lightly. But Lib Dems Lords Health and Social Care spokesperson Sal Brinton used it today in response to Michael Gove’s interview on the Andrew Marr Show . But this lie that the Gvt has already put a protective ring round care homes is a lie direct. […]
I now know I have PTSD and it is Liberating
I am not quite sure when I first encountered the ‘Black Dog’ but he has pretty much been on the premises for the last ten years. The crash as I like to call it came on 9th October 2009 when the pressures of a full-time job and caring finally took their toll. I remember waking […]
LibLink: Sal Brinton; The NHS can’t work without a sustainable social care system
As the NHS turned 70 this week, Sal Brinton looked back at the development of social care policy and outlined the Government’s failings: … since 2015, the new Conservative Government has dithered and delayed, repeatedly promising that they would sort out the social care funding problem. We still await the Green Paper promised in the […]
Growth in infant mortality highlights desperate pressures on the NHS
The annual statistics on stillbirths, infant deaths and childhood deaths in England and Wales were published yesterday by the government. The report also includes data on the causes of death and information on key risk factors. This report evidences the first two-year increase in infant mortality rates in England and Wales for the last 30 years. […]
Our NHS needs money!
Vince has been talking about how we can properly fund the NHS in England and Wales. The full LIb Dem plan is here. It includes five steps for rescuing health and social care services, with the long-term goal being to integrate health and social care into one seamless service with pooled budgets. An immediate 1p […]
Joan Walmsley writes…Taxing patience and taxing patients
In order to “incentivise employers to think differently about their recruitment and skills decisions and the balance between investing in UK skills and overseas recruitment” (Lord Nash in the Lords on Tuesday) the government has decided to introduce an Immigration Skills Charge, a tax of £1000 per employee, per year, paid in advance by an […]