A new analysis shows that the NHS will be unable to get to grips with post-pandemic health challenges or make planned improvements without urgent steps on funding, staffing, and social care. A report by IPPR follows other evidence showing record waiting lists and a wave of new mental health distress. This article is a part of a series reviewing the key steps and issues needed to build and protect the NHS.
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Key points:
Staff burnout, long-term understaffing and NHS pay are pivotal issues.
The ambitions of the NHS Long term plan to improve care and raise survival rates cannot be met without increased funding and a solution for social care.
Lack of NHS capacity will make it more reliant on the private sector.
Technology can help, but many people lack digital skills causing major inequity in access to care.
There is a £9bn backlog in NHS hospital repairs and a lack of capital funding undermines community-based healthcare.
Full article in The Lowdown, 22 April 2021