18 January 2022
The Health and Care Bill ignores a staffing crisis which has left both NHS and care staff on their knees and fails to address social inequality and long waiting lists, the Green Party has warned ahead of an online SOS NHS rally tomorrow [Wednesday 19 January]. [1]
The Greens have also accused the government of missing a vital opportunity to integrate health and social care in the bill, which fails to tackle the issues surrounding social care despite being in the bill’s name.
Green party Co-leader, Carla Denyer, said:
“The Health and Care Bill fails to address the severe staff shortages and low morale that our health and care services face – a crisis intensified by both Covid and Brexit. NHS and social care workers say they are on their knees and there are inadequate numbers of new staff being trained. All of which leaves millions of patients on very long waiting lists, many of whom have urgent health and care needs.
“This Bill was an opportunity to genuinely integrate health and social care. It fails to do so. Indeed, social care is not tackled at all in the bill despite it being in the title.
“The government is also failing to address the huge health inequalities which have been exposed by Covid. We need a Bill that makes local and national government responsible for eliminating health inequalities and provides the resources to do so, together with a broader set of national policies to address widening social inequalities such as a wealth tax, a citizen’s income and a Green New Deal to ensure everyone has a warm home.”
SOS NHS, a coalition of campaign groups and trade unions demanding emergency funding for the NHS, will hold an online rally tomorrow, Wednesday, at 7pm.
Notes
1. HNS Confederation overview of the Health and Care Bill: https://www.nhsconfed.org/publications/health-and-care-bill
2. The SOS NHS online rally will take place at 7pm on Wednesday 19th January https://sosnhs.org/events/
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