Independent commission proposes radical reshaping of health and social care around need
Health and social care should be moved to a single, ring-fenced budget for the NHS and social care, with a single commissioner for local services according to a new report released by the King’s Fund today.
The report containing the final recommendations of the Barker commission is the first to make tangible recommendations for reform and calls on politicians of all parties to acknowledge the unsustainability of the current funding for health and social care.
There is no “do nothing” option, and there needs to be a national conversation on what action needs to happen. Politicians will need to make tough choices about tax and spend to fill the huge financial hole in the already struggling social care system and find a long term solution to this growing crisis. The system needs to get it right for dementia, and then it will get it right for other conditions too.’
Jeremy Hughes
Chief Executive
Alzheimer’s Society
