Patients and those who draw on care and support are my top priority.
The new health secretary’s plan to put NHS and social care on a “resilient footing” and improve the care of the patients this winter has been criticized for failing to address the nursing workforce crisis. She announced details of” Our Plan for Patients.”
The government new plan includes:
- Additional funding for adult social care to bolster the social care workforce.
- To free up NHS beds by enabling discharge from hospital into the community.
The priority of the plan is:
- Improving patient access to primary care
- with the expectation that all patients who need a GP appointment will be able to get one within the weeks
- Those with urgent needs should be seen the same day.
To boost the primary care access, following measures are being introduced:
- Cloud based telephone systems to make it easier for the patients to get through to their general practice
- Increased role for pharmacists who will be expected to take on more prescribing.
Ms Coffey also announced:
- FUNDING RULES would be changed to alleviate general practice workforce pressures.
- NHS pension rules would be changed to boost staff retention and to encourage recently retired staff to return to work.
In the plan, following actions are also include:
- Measures to reduce long ambulance handover delays
- Increase in the number of emergency call handlers for NHS 111 and 999.
- Up to 160 new community diagnostic centers are to be placed to reduce the care backlogs by the March 2025.
- Highlighted the ongoing attempt of the governments to recruit 50,000 more nurses by the 2024.
In her speech, the new health secretory also called on the public to take participate in a NATIONAL ENDEAVOUR to support the health and social care system by volunteering across the NHS and social care.
Ms Coffey was criticized for failing to prioritize nursing and workforce crisis when she posted on Twitter taht her key priorities were “ABCD”. that are ambulances, backlogs, care and doctors and dentists.+
Ms Coffey ensured that the new plan would “smoother pathways” for patients in all the parts of the health and care.
She also said “Patients and those who draw on care and support are my top priority, and we will help them receive care as quickly and conveniently as possible.
That’s the main reason for publishing the “Our Plan for Patients” which:
- Help empowers
- Inform people to live healthier lives
- Boosting the performance and productivity of the NHS.
She also said that the next months are going to be more difficult across all health and care services. There is rising operational demands, a possible twindemic of the covid19 and an early flu season, and staff and patients have struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
She also added, “We need a substantial boost across all parts of the workforce if we are going to tackle the elective waiting list which now stands at 6.8million, alongside substantial care backlogs across mental health, primary care and community services.
We need to see a fully funded workforce plan and fast.
Interim deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, MIRIAM DEAKINN, welcomed the adult care social care fund to help tackle delayed discharges, but she added that what was needed was ‘tangible progress’ to tackle the significant workforce gaps across health and care, with over 130,000 vacancies across trusts in England alone.