Lords report on NHS a ‘wake up call’

By RCM on 05 April 2017 Government Pay and Agenda For Change NHS

The publication into the long-term sustainability of the NHS in England says successive governments have failed to plan effectively.

It calls the long-term future of the NHS ‘an increasing public concern’, with a record 55% of people saying they expected the NHS to deteriorate.

The RCM said it will be examining the report and looking into the details.

Cathy Warwick, the RCM chief executive, was among those who gave evidence to the committee. She said that the greatest threat to maternity services is the serious shortage of midwives. 
 
‘We now know from global research that if you are going to maintain the health and well-being of women and babies, they need midwifery input, and that is best delivered by midwives,’ said Cathy in her evidence.

‘The fact is that investing in midwives leads to higher quality care.’
 
Cathy also stressed the importance of midwives being supported by motivated and well-trained MSWs. 

Jon Skewes, RCM director for policy, employment relations and communications, said: ‘This is a report that lays bare some of the issues facing our profession. 

‘The committee importantly says how short-sighted and counter productive the cuts to public health budgets are. This hits areas such as smoking cessation services for pregnant women. 

‘The impact this will have not just on the health of the women but also their babies could be significant.’

The commitee makes 34 recommendations in its report. Among these is an independent review to examine the impact of pay on morale and retention of health and care staff.
 
It also says cuts to funding for the public health budget are short-sighted and counter-productive, and national and local public health budgets should be ring-fenced for at least the next 10 years.    

A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'We are totally committed to an NHS, free at the point of use, providing world-class care – and we agree that means taking decisions to ensure the sustainability of the service in future.

‘That's why we are already expanding the number of medical training places by 25% to ensure we have all the doctors we need, investing in social care and working on a long-term funding solution in a green paper, and putting £325m into local transformation plans to improve services, with more to follow in the autumn.’

To read the full report, click here.