Health and Social Care: Winter Update
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster Excerpts(2 days, 18 hours ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Lord is right to remind us of the challenge of having people in the right place, rather than in hospital when they do not need to be there. We have already taken action, so I am pleased to be able to reassure him that, while the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, will look at long-term solutions for social care, she will present a report within a year from her commencement, which will add to the actions that we have already taken.
The noble Lord talked about unpaid carers—and I certainly share the respect that he holds for unpaid carers, so I am very pleased that we have given the biggest boost in income to family carers through eligibility for the carer’s allowance. That has meant an additional —on average, of course—£2,300 a year. That is the biggest boost since carer’s allowance was introduced in the 1970s. We are also legislating for a fair pay agreement, for the first time ever, which will help to tackle the number of vacancies, now standing at 131,000. There will be immediate action, because discharge requires being able to be in the right environment, which might be home but it might need an adaptation. Through the disabled facilities grant there will be a further 7,800 adaptations to homes both this year and next year. So we have taken the immediate action—and, yes, there is a lot more to do.
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Lab)
My Lords, my noble friend the Minister has just reiterated what the Statement said—that one of the key levers for easing winter pressures is NHS reform, particularly moving some hospital services into the community, which could deal with some of the issues raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, including X-rays, scans, tests and so on. Does she agree that this will require close collaboration between NHS trusts, hospital trusts, local authorities, ICBs and, sometimes, the private sector? Will she work with Ministers in other departments, not only to remove any obstacles there might be to this but to actively encourage it to happen at the local level? By the way, there are some good examples in South Yorkshire of this happening, and proposals for it to happen.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
My noble friend is quite right to highlight the good examples in South Yorkshire. There are good examples across the country and one of our challenges, as the Secretary of State has said, is taking the best to the rest. This is a very good example of that. I certainly agree with her observations. This requires joined-up working locally and nationally, which is why we work closely with other departments in both the immediate term and the longer term as we seek to reform health and social care.
Hospice Funding
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster Excerpts(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
As I mentioned, it has been confirmed that there will be funding for children and young people’s hospices for the forthcoming year, which I know had been hoped for but not actually delivered. I am very glad that the Secretary of State was able to confirm that. On long-term sustainability, Minister Kinnock is very much looking forward to meeting major stakeholders and is working with NHS England to find the best funding mechanism, in respect of the £100 million capital grant and more generally.
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Lab)
My Lords, it is very good news that the commission is in the safe hands of Sir Mike Richards, who I worked very closely with when I was a Health Minister. Could my noble friend set out the ways in which the Government might assist the hospice sector with training, because there must be a crossover in the different tasks undertaken? In particular, could some of the changes announced for social care workers be transferred to the hospice movement?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
My noble friend makes a very helpful point that I will certainly follow up. The fact that the majority of hospice care is provided through the NHS suggests that there is room for further co-operation between the independent hospice sector and the NHS. I am grateful for her comments and will follow that up.
NHS Plan: Consultation
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord. Yesterday, I was at an in-person event in Folkestone, and as with all such events up and down the country, it had used systems to find a wide range of people, including young people, who, as he rightly says, are often unlinked with the health service. I emphasise our continued monitoring and our efforts to reach the groups he speaks of. So far, we know that men, those aged under 35, and black Asian and black British people have engaged least with Change NHS. We are now stepping up our efforts.
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Lab)
My Lords, will my noble friend the Minister look at the role that pharmacists might play in any consultation? While they may not be an obvious source of reaching out, they are embedded in communities and talk to patients and users frequently. If they could be harnessed, it would much improve the consultation.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I am very grateful to all those, including pharmacists, who have used all their networks and contacts to spread the word. That is why we have had over 60,000 responses and more than 1 million visits in what is the largest ever consultation in the history of the NHS. I call on all groups to continue their efforts to ensure that voices across all communities are heard loud and clear.