Ambulance Services and National Heatwave Emergency

Baroness Pinnock Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

There is work under way in the NHS and the Department for Health and Social Care to deliver on that pledge.

[Baroness Pinnock (LD)]

My Lords, it is recognised that the difficulty with the handover to social care is one of the reasons for the problems faced by the ambulance service. The Local Government Association, of which I am a vice-president, estimated that there would be a £2.2 billion shortfall in funding for social care within local authorities. What are the Government going to do to address that challenging problem?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, as I said, the Government have put additional funding into social care. We have also allowed local authorities flexibility in how they approach council tax and their own local precept to support that funding. Funding is an essential part of the picture, as is better co-ordination. We can learn from those areas that are more effective at smooth discharge and ensure that best practice is shared across the country. There are some pilot sites both within the NHS and in social care to try to spread that best practice.