This Spending Review was a missed opportunity to draw a line under the damage experienced by our public services; among other issues, it left social care teetering on the edge.
People are crying out for a clean break from the neglect of the last Conservative government, and they are bitterly disappointed that the current government is failing to deliver that change.
The Government must understand that we can’t fix the NHS if we don’t fix social care. There was a deafening silence on this in the Chancellor’s speech.
“We can’t fix the NHS if we don’t fix social care”
Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “The Government’s bid to start reforms has barely progressed since it was announced six months ago. Yet we all know the simple truth: without solving the social care challenge, putting money into the NHS today will be like pouring water into a leaky bucket.”
NHS investment risks going to waste if hospitals can’t discharge patients who don’t need to be there – and if local authorities don’t have the resources to care for people in their homes, preventing them going to hospital in the first place.
The Government has got to speed up and be ambitious by concluding its social care review by the end of this year.
While government faced tough choices, some future funding for adult social care can only help – but a lack of significant extra government money needed to meet immediate pressures is worrying.