25 August 2022
25 August 2022
The British Society for Rheumatology is concerned having followed comments made by UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss MP at a Conservative Leadership hustings on Tuesday evening. Ms Truss MP was responding to a question regarding budgeting of the NHS and social care and her plans to scrap the Health and Care Levy introduced by the government this year.
The Health and Care Levy, which saw National Insurance contributions rise by 1.25% for workers and employers, is projected to raise £12bn annually with the majority of the funds earmarked to improve NHS services over the next three years and tackle the elective care backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The £12bn raised represents nearly 10% of the entire NHS budget and the introduction of the levy was widely welcomed by health and care professionals as a necessary injection of resources needed to get the NHS through the elective care backlog.
In reference to the funding Ms. Truss MP said “I would spend that money in social care. Quite a lot has gone to the NHS. I would give it to local authorities. We have people in beds in the NHS who would be better off in social care. So put that money into social care.”
NHS Providers, the body which represents NHS Trust Leaders, responded to these comments with alarm, with Interim Chief Executive Saffron Cordery stating “Cutting waiting times for NHS care is a priority, and huge strides have been made with the list of those waiting for two years or more almost eliminated. The welcome extra investment from the Health and Social Care Levy, announced by the Government as vital funding to clear care backlogs…has helped trusts to boost activity.” She went on to add “taking away this money from the NHS will put the brakes on the elective recovery plan and efforts to bring down long waiting lists.”
BSR made clear in our 2021 report Rheumatology Workforce: a crisis in numbers, that expanding workforce numbers within the speciality was the most important task in rebuilding the sector and providing the Multidisciplinary Health Teams needed to provide high quality care for the 18.8 million people living with Rheumatological and Musculoskeletal conditions in the UK.
BSR CEO Ali Rivett said “Our research into the rheumatology workforce shows the specialty is operating without the staff necessary to provide the fast, effective and holistic care needed by those living with complex Rheumatological and Musculoskeletal conditions.”
“The consequence of this under resourcing is longer waiting times and slower diagnosis and care for those who need it. These delays have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life and can also lead to a general deterioration in their health, which in turn puts more strain on the NHS as a whole.”
“Within the speciality we need to see this shortage of staff in the workforce sustainably addressed and the backlog of those waiting for life altering Rheumatological care cleared. Neither of these can take place if Health and Social Care services are pitted against each other and forced to compete for essential funding.”
“As a society we will be following policy developments in this area closely and will seek to influence the next Prime Minister and Cabinet to secure the funding and support that the specialty needs across the UK.”