It feels like that not a day goes by when yet another article doesn’t hit the press covering healthcare matters and lack of funding.
Recent coverage in the Daily Express has seen them publish statistic after statistic confirming where the shortfalls lie. Some of the most alarming ones cover the cost of bed blocking in the NHS, where it is claimed that 154,000 beds were occupied by patients fit enough to go home and a recent report has suggested that only an increase in National Insurance/Income Tax would solve the current deficit in the NHS.
The one thing I do like about the Daily Express’s campaign is that they talk about both the NHS and social care at the same time. One of my biggest concerns for the sector is that the Government constantly refer to the NHS and seem to completely ignore social care. Yet additional funding for social care would help alleviate the NHS’s bed blocking problem.
The Government have now announced yet more money is going to the NHS. Whilst any additional money is welcome, it remains to be seen where these additional funds will come from.
No doubt the debate will run and run, and I will post further blogs as things unfold.
Colin Peacock
Business Advisor and Accountant to Nursing and Care Homes
