Keir Starmer is poised to set out “serious, deep, long-term changes” that also aim to slash cancer deaths and improve mental health treatment – and make the NHS “fit for the future”
========================================
Well great for Labour, but do they know what it will take and will they do it with the NHS or just ponder on and do it their way.
The NHS are the experts in health and most of any government or any political party are not, so to enact change you have to work with the experts.
Now they say this they will do within 10 years and in doing so create many more jobs within the NHS.
Well, do they know it takes 10 years to train a GP, so is their promise of change within 10 years realistic? Also, many more staff are required in all areas of the NHS, nurses, OTs, Physios, Junior doctors, Consultants and many more all of whom have to be trained, so 10 years does appear to be some unrealistic.
But without Social Care any funding and changes to the NHS is really extremely unrealistic, for social care is required on a much better basis than as currently. For without social care there will be much more demand for care within the NHS, not only by persons in need of social care, but also their family members who currently do so much to underpin social care. As of 2020 family carers within the UK saved the UK £193 billion an extremely substantial sum. But family carers are not well looked after, yes, they can claim Carers Allowance, but this is only £76.75 per week, but only if,
the person you care for must already get one of these benefits:
- Personal Independence Payment – daily living component
- Disability Living Allowance – the middle or highest care rate
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Child Disability Payment – the middle or highest care rate
- Adult Disability Payment – daily living component at the standard or enhanced rate
If you are eligible you have to provide at least 35 hours care per week, but only if
So, effectively it is not really an allowance for caring, but an allowance for some or all loss of income while caring.
Family carers spend so much of their time caring, that in many instances they fail to monitor their own state of health and the state of decline could well not be noticed for some time, when much medical interventions could well be needed.
But you say, there is social care, which there is currently, but for how much longer, for as in the NHS there is also a severe lack of persons currently in paid care working for many reasons.
The main being the rate of pay as most care workers only receive the National Living Wage of £10.42 per hour for all the responsibilities they undertake. For caring is much more, than washing and dressing, toileting, meal preparation, for there is so much more. Carers are not there to do as they please, but have to follow a stated care plan arranged through the involvement of the person in need of care and any family members. The choices of the person in need of care are paramount and have to be respected, provide dignity at all times, and respect all of their possessions and their home. Even in a care home it is their home, especially so their bedroom, which in many instances is their only private space. But there is also medication, empathy, safeguarding, where requested taking the person out, and so much more.
Is £10.42 per hour really sufficient for all these responsibilities, when these carers could earn so much more in other areas without any of the responsibilities. But also there are insufficient travel expenses, insufficient allowance for holidays, especially Bank Holidays, no sick pay except for Statutory Sick Pay, which again is way insufficient.
So much is wrong and very little, in fact, nothing is being done to correct it, well the Tories have again delayed looking at social care, now not until 2025, will social care even last that long. Even, then whoever is the government, will sufficient funding for social care be granted, the Tories promised £1 billion in 2019 for all social care both children and adults but it never came. So, in 2023 they promised £500 million over 3 years, but then reduced it to £250 million, but again that never came. To do anything reasonable social care currently needs £12 billion for adults alone and then sustainable funding for many years to come.
So, Labour what now of your promises?
Source: Labour vow to cut heart disease and stroke deaths by a quarter within 10 years – Mirror Online
Like this:
Like Loading...