The political parties need to come together to find a solution to ‘fix’ social care or else the strain on the NHS will ‘get worse’, Lord Ara Darzi has told MPs.
Giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) on his independent review into NHS performance in England yesterday (20 November), he told MPs that ‘successive governments have failed to make progress’ on the issues within social care and that these have ‘significant consequences’ for the NHS.
‘It has been a serious problem, it is a serious problem, if we don’t fix it, it’s going to get significantly worse,’ Lord Darzi said.
‘My advice would be to all political parties to come together to think through what’s the best solution for this problem which always gets batted off to the side.’
He went through the different solutions presented since Gordon Brown was prime minister between 2007 and 2010, when he proposed a compulsory inheritance levy to help pay for social care.
‘That was called the death tax and the whole thing fell apart,’ said Lord Darzi. ‘Sadly, it did not get anywhere.
‘It was the Dilnot commission which made recommendations following that which recommended a more generous means tested and a life cap on the cost of care. And then David Cameron came in, there was a lot of talk about [social care], but it didn’t happen.
‘Theresa May came in with her proposal for this, the dementia tax, and then the last one was Boris Johnson. I remember having a conversation with him about that at the time. It was based upon National Insurance.’
He said: ‘If we don’t address this issue, we’re going to keep the strain on the NHS. The problem with that is we’re not getting value for money with every pound we’re spending in the NHS if we don’t fix social care. The impact is clear and it’s something critical that needs to be addressed.’
But, he added that it was more than just money that was needed.
‘Social care, besides the money, it needs a complete reform and revamp. It needs a deeper surgical procedure,’ he said.
Lord Darzi, who undertook an eight-week investigation into the NHS earlier this year, found that it was in a ‘critical condition’ after a decade of austerity, being starved of capital investment and the impact of the Covid pandemic.
During the evidence session to the HSCC, he also addressed the issue of healthcare for children and young people, which he said was the ‘one area I was most shocked by’.
He said: ‘Our children are our future of this country. Their educational years are their most important years in what happens to them, so if we don’t invest in them there’s something wrong with us and our societal values. That’s why if there was one area that I was most shocked by, it was the mental and physical health of our children and our future.
‘It’s a no brainer. This is the future of this country,’ he said.
The cancer surgeon and former Labour minister also reiterated that pharmacies should play a ‘significantly greater’ role in health care.
‘If we’re really going to reduce the burden on our general practice and community services, pharmacy has a huge role to play,’ he said.
Earlier this month, a report suggested 81% of councils were expected to overspend on their adult social care budgets this year.
