The NHS needs a new ‘winterproof taskforce’ to put an end to the annual winter crises facing the health service, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has said.
In a speech to delegates yesterday, Mr Davey urged the government to be ‘more positive’ and to act to not ‘make the same mistakes the Conservative party did’. He called for this winter to be ‘the last winter crisis’ for the NHS.
Under the Lib Dem proposals, a taskforce would bring together a team of experts directly reporting to the health secretary in order to strengthen coordination and allocate long term funding, allowing ICBs to plan their budgets more effectively.
This taskforce would manage a ringfenced £1.5bn fund over the next four years to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging.
At the conference, Mr Davey said: ‘Practically every year I can remember, governments have ended up announcing hundreds of millions of pounds of emergency funding to help the NHS through another winter crisis. To paper over the cracks.
‘What if – instead of stumbling from crisis to crisis, instead of throwing more and more money at just plugging the gaps – what if we invested now to make the NHS winterproof? The government could and should make this year the last winter crisis in our NHS.’
ICBs were told by NHS England this week to make robust winter plans in order to cover surges over this winter.
Last winter, between November 2023 and March 2024, 732,000 patients faced A&E waits of over four hours, with almost 230,000 waiting over 12 hours.
Responding to the speech, Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive, NHS Providers, said: ‘Politicians of all parties need to get behind the ‘next generation’ NHS to make it fit for the future.
‘The NHS has had its busiest summer ever and trusts expect another tough winter. Pressure on hospital, community health, mental health and ambulance services is relentless.
‘Trusts and their teams this winter will be pulling out all the stops to keep patients safe. NHS staff face another busy time knowing they don’t have all the tools to do the job they need to provide first-class care.’
Sir Julian added that to improve patient care and boost productivity, the NHS needs ‘significantly more’ capital investment and wider reforms.
‘Things will only get better if trusts, working flat out now to cut waiting lists and to see patients as quickly as possible, get long-term investment to end chronic workforce shortages and meet growing demand. A truly ‘next generation’ health service needs more investment in digital technology, in improving prevention and public health, and reform of social care,’ he added.
Responding to Lib Dem analysis on waits to see a GP earlier this week, which found 10 million four-week waits between January and July, NHS Confederation said there must be a look at the funding gap.
Ruth Rankine, director of primary care at NHS Confederation, said: ‘Ahead of winter, the government must address the estimated gap between what the NHS is committed to do this year and what funding services have to deliver it. A failure to do this will lead to a crisis and make it more difficult for people to be seen in primary care.’
