The LGA and its partners have set out a joint vision for health and social care
High-quality, responsive, preventative and personalised health and care services contribute so much to our lives and society.
They enable people to live their best lives and be active in their local communities, supporting unpaid carers to continue caring while working and living their own lives, while offering rewarding, skilled employment and long-term careers to more than three million people.
They also bring together the best of the NHS, local authorities, adult social care providers, public health and the community and voluntary sector to support people to live good lives, while also boosting local, regional and national economies as major employers.
However, all of the evidence points to a stark truth: our health and social care services are struggling to meet their statutory requirements to provide people with timely, safe, high-quality and effective care and support.
Despite the heroic efforts of all those working in social care and health, without immediate and long-term action from central government, they will fail to improve, leading to worse health, wellbeing and economic outcomes for all of us.
In response to this, the LGA, along with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and NHS Confederation, have agreed a vision on the long-term solutions required to make our health and care system resilient, preventative and promoting independence.
We call on the Government to work with us and to put in place concrete measures to ensure that local leaders can achieve this culture shift, consisting of three key asks:
- invest in prevention and early intervention
- create the ability to plan for the long term
- deliver a long-term, fully funded workforce plan that covers health and social care – including the public health workforce.
We are pleased the Autumn Statement provided more resources over the medium term to meet inflationary pressures in health and social care, but this funding will not address the underlying gaps, market fragility and workforce pressures.
Neither does it provide sufficient long-term certainty for social care and health organisations to invest in different models of care that prevent ill health and promote wellbeing, resilience and independence.
We acknowledge and support the Government’s ambition to invest more in prevention and early intervention but, as a nation, we have often struggled to shift from ambition to reality. Attention is too often focused on acute hospitals, rather than on working to maximise our health and wellbeing and to keep people well and independent for as long as possible.
Long-term solutions are needed to make this shift a reality, including a major reset of our social care and health services and supports.
It is only by doing so that we will turn the growing tide of ill health and dependence on acute and hospital services – so that when people need treatment, care and support, our responses are built around what matters most to the individual and enables them to live meaningful and independent lives.
Our three national organisations agree that our vision for all partners in the health and care system must focus first and foremost on promoting the health, wellbeing and prosperity of our citizens.
This vision is relevant to all of us, whether we need care, support or treatment now or in the future, provide unpaid care for family members, work in social care or health, or run businesses that contribute to health and wellbeing outcomes.