Amanda Pritchard, NHS England chief executive, said it was clear waiting times across many services were ‘unacceptable' and promised to work with the Government to create a 10-year plan to ensure the ‘NHS recovers from Covid, strengthens its foundations and continues to reform so it is fit for future generations'.
NHS, Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association, said it was vital to involve local government in shaping the upcoming 10-year plan for health that the Darzi Review will inform.
‘Staring down the barrel'
Nuffield Trust chief executive Thea Stein warned the health service was ‘staring down the barrel of a significant shortfall in funding this current year', adding the chancellor would need to set out clear plans how to tackle this in her Budget next month ahead of a longer-term funding settlement.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive, NHS Providers, called for ‘significantly more capital investment in the NHS alongside wider reforms including a shift to providing more care closer to home'.
Twin track funding
Speaking at The MJ Midlands Future Forum in Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday, NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said the review was the ‘first chapter' in the Government's 10-year plan that would see a shift to prevention, more emphasis on digital and technology, and a greater proportion of resources moved from the acute sector to primary care. Taylor said he expected the 10-year plan to include ‘more focus on patient choice and autonomy'.
CIPFA health and social care policy manager, Eleanor Roy, called for ‘twin track' funding to support transformation while maintaining existing services, adding: ‘A cross-government approach is essential to address the broader social determinants of health.'
Mandate for action
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King's Fund, said the report was a ‘mandate for Government to take bold, decisive action', and called for ‘political focus on public health strategies that keep people healthy and preventing illness in the first place' as well as ‘finally getting to grips with the much-needed reform of adult social care.'
In a similar vein, Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said ‘investing in social care was integral to the survival and success of the NHS'.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: ‘Fixing the NHS is this country's greatest challenge and the new Government must make it their top priority. That must include recruiting more GPs, fixing our crumbling hospitals and crucially tackling the social care crisis that has been ignored for far too long.'
