The King’s Fund Responds to the Select Committee Chairs’ Letter to the Prime Minister

Chris Ham, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund, said: ‘Securing sustainable funding for social care is a challenge that successive governments have failed to meet.

‘The result is that the social care system has become a threadbare safety net that is being stretched ever more thinly, with the sector facing a £2.4 billion funding gap. The impact is felt by the most vulnerable in society, with more than 400,000 fewer older people receiving publicly-funded social care than in 2009/10 – despite growing numbers living with complex care needs.

‘On health funding, the planned increases in spending are not enough to maintain standards of care, meet rising levels of demand, and transform services. Patients are waiting longer for treatment, mental health services are under pressure, and intermediate care is being cut.

‘Hard-pressed NHS staff are becoming the shock absorbers as pressures on the health service continue to grow. These will peak in 2018/19 and 2019/20, when there is almost no planned growth in real-terms NHS funding.

‘A new settlement for health and social care is long overdue. This should build on the work of the Barker Commission, which made recommendations on the future of health and social care in England. In particular, there needs to be a single, ring-fenced budget for the NHS and social care, paid for through increased public funding.

‘For too long there has been a lack of political leadership on these issues. We agree with the committee chairs that a political consensus that puts health and social care funding on a sustainable footing is sorely needed. Without a consensus, patients and people in need will suffer.’