Lord Loomba CBE, speaking during a debate on the House of Lords report on the Long-term Sustainability of the NHS and Adult Social Care, which comes "at a crucial time for the NHS and for adult social care," said "it is widely recognised by many that there is a need for immediate action to sort out the main difficulties that plague both the NHS and adult social care." Expanding his point, Lord Loomba emphasised the need "to look at better long-term sustainable funding so that the NHS can get on with its work in a more secure way than at present."
Citing the Report's main thrust that the NHS and adult social care "should be brought together to tackle the problems in tandem so that the most apt solutions for both sides are put forward," Lord Loomba noted that "there has been some movement on this front as the department has now been renamed the Department of Health and Social Care."
The Report also recommended the "Department of Health should have budgetary responsibility at national level for adult social care"; but, Lord Loomba pointed out that "confusingly, .., Jeremy Hunt said in his evidence to the House of Commons Health Committee in March that while he now has responsibility for adult social care, funding would continue to flow through local government, which delivers adult social care." Added to this, Jeremy Hunt "now has responsibility for the proposed Green Paper on adult social care," which, as Lord Loomba noted "at the moment ... will not cover the NHS."
Highlighting that many peers have commented on the "numerous commissions and consultations over many years [that] have not resolved the issues, " Lord Loomba stated: "clearly, no business can run without an eye to the future, and an organisation as vital as the NHS needs a clear strategy of where we are, what the problems are, what needs to be achieved and the steps needed to achieve it." "It is not insurmountable," he said, "but it will take willpower on all sides and agreements to be reached that allow for the patients who need assistance to be at the forefront of the change, so that they are given the best health and social care possible."
Citing Age UK’s briefing that "highlights the interconnectedness of the problem," Lord Loomba stressed "it should not be forgotten that problems with the care system in turn create further pressure on the NHS." "Delayed discharges are a good example of this," he said, "where older people are unable to be safely discharged from hospital because adequate social care plans are not in place." "The bottom line," Lord Loomba argued, "is that while all this prevarication continues, the people who need help are suffering the most, as they are let down by a system that is not fit for purpose." In this situation "comes low morale and a depleted workforce that needs uplifting, for without them it would be a much bleaker picture."
Addressing the Minster, Lord O'Shaughnessy, Lord Loomba stated: "I am aware that waiting times in A&E are coming down. "However," he stressed, "we need to reduce them further so that no one is forced to wait for more than four hours to be seen, and especially to improve matters so that there is not a repeat of this winter’s acute problems, when ambulances at some hospitals were forced to wait outside and unable to deliver their patients due to lack of capacity." "What actions are the Government taking," Lord Loomba asked, "to increase the number of doctors and nurses working in the NHS, and how can immigration policies be amended to accommodate more doctors and nurses from overseas to help to fill the shortfall in staffing levels?
