Public Heath and NHS

Public Health and NHS

Strengthening NHS Mental Health Services

Summary

Who does not want to live a long life? But this brings challenges in terms of physical and psychological wellness. Despite embracing a health regime enabling people to live longer, in many cases, the quality of life is increasingly demeaned by mental health issues. However, the ‘one size fits all’ policy approach hinders the successful delivery of standardised health and social care services. The merits of individuality of experience, need for belongingness and ownership in a specific community, and the degree of loneliness are not taken into account.

Mental health accompanies serious threat to wellbeing of aging population and adverse health consequences to young generation. This calls for robust ground of collaboration to address the problem. Considering financial constraints, overburdened institutions in local bureaucracy and increasing dependency on NHS, it is now necessary to intervene with existing community assets and limited resources.

Promises:

Setting up ‘Community Care Clubs’

Community Care Clubs will comprise officials from local councils, volunteers from each neighbourhood, representatives from voluntary associations, physical training instructors, therapist or counsellor for mental health and trainer for technology and internet learning.

‘Meet and Greet’ on Festivals

There are people across communities who have to go without talking to friends and family for days, weeks even for months. They live to be on their own on special occasions of the year. Community lunch, welcome bash, meet and greet sessions on Christmas and Easter break would lift their spirit.

Creating Tech-free Zones for Children

Excessive screen time has been linked to negative impacts on cognitive development in children, including reduced attention spans and impaired learning abilities. Prolonged screen use can lead to physical health problems such as poor posture, eye strain, and sleep disturbances, which can further affect mental health. Cookery class, pottery, painting, knitting, and craft encouraging lessons will be held.

Preventing substance abuse amongst elderly and young

To combat the rise of alcohol consumption and smoking and substance addiction, residential rehab facilities will be provided. Volunteer groups, along with local bodies, will arrange awareness programs.

Database for elderly

A complete database for elderly population needs to set up to identify the potential victims of loneliness and social isolation.

Age-Friendly Department under Local Government

Neighbourhood Approach:

Integrated Mental Health and Primary Care

Analysis regarding NHS and our findings

– NHS Funding and Management: Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded, with concerns about how the health service is funded and managed¹.

– Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Criticism over the procurement and distribution of PPE, as well as the overall response to the pandemic. There is an ongoing covid-19 public inquiry on this, which have had hearings on 2 modules already.  Especially for the PPE the backlash was significant.

– NHS Staff Shortages: There are more than 100,000 unfilled jobs in the NHS in England, affecting resources and morale².

– Waiting Lists: Millions of people are waiting for non-urgent operations, with the backlog reaching 7.5 million at the end of March 2024². Labour has promised to clear it within five years, with more evening and weekend appointments and using the private sector – paid for by a crack-down on tax avoiders. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats say they’d invest in public health and prevention, so fewer people get ill and need treatment in the first place.

Another major issue: Staff shortages, which are stretching resources and affecting morale. The NHS in England has more than 100,000 un-filled jobs, that’s almost 7% of the workforce. While the Royal College of Nursing says almost half of its members are currently planning or considering quitting. The Conservatives have delivered on their 2019 manifesto pledge to hire 50-thousand more nurses. But unions say that’s still not enough to meet demand. Labour has promised to create 7,500 more medical school places and 10,000 more nursing and midwifery clinical placements a year.

While Reform UK say to retain workers they’d cut taxes for frontline NHS staff and write-off student fees for trainee doctors and nurses.

– GP and Dentist Appointments: Difficulty in getting timely GP or dentist appointments, with over three million people in England waiting over three weeks to see their GP as of April 2024².

NHS data shows that in April 2024 more than three million people in England had to wait over three weeks to see their GP. Meanwhile there’s a crisis in NHS dentistry, with tooth decay the number one reason for hospital admissions for young children.

The Conservatives says they’ll give dentists cash incentives to take on NHS patients, build 100 new GP surgeries in England and expand the use of pharmacies. Labour promises to end the 8am scramble for appointments by using the NHS App. And say they’ll deliver 700,000 extra dentistry appointments a year. While the Green Party say they would ensure everyone can see an NHS doctor or dentist by raising money through a “fairer” tax system.

And on top of all that, there’s the ongoing industrial action to sort out. Junior doctors are due to walk-out just days before the election and now even GPs now threatening to take action. It is a daunting to-do list.

– Social Care: Ongoing cuts to social security expected to increase child poverty and therefore exacerbate already widening health inequalities⁴.

Detail Arguments:

• The health of the nation is also moving up the stakes, as ill health is the main factor why 2.6 million working-age people are economically inactive. And social care, for how long can governments ignore reform given the growing ageing population?
• The Conservatives have promised in 2019 £1bn per year over the course of the parliament to prop up the existing social care system – both children’s and adults’ services. But this won’t come close to the £4.1bn needed by 2023/24 to address the costs of rising demand and match NHS pay increases. In the meantime, more people will go without the care they need.
• With a global shortage of health professionals, ethically recruiting this many nurses from abroad in a way which is not detrimental to developing countries is going to be difficult. A non-restrictive migration policy – including but not limited to the government’s proposed fast-track NHS visa for migrant health workers – will be crucial but may present a tricky balancing act with implementing wider changes to immigration controls set out elsewhere in the manifesto.
• The pledge to build 40 hospitals (which upon closer inspection is funding for six projects over the next five years with ‘seed funding’ for up to 34) doesn’t address the immediate investment needed to revive the NHS’ crumbling infrastructure after a decade of austerity. This risks the NHS being trapped between high expectations of achieving specific commitments without the wider financial certainty needed to deliver meaningful improvements in care.
• There is no commitment to go beyond the Spending Round plan, to at least provide a real-term increase in the public health grant. It will take £1bn in 2020/21 to reverse real-term per capita cuts to the public health grant since 2015/16.
• In fact, the strongest influences on health are the circumstances in which we are born, grow, live, work and age. So where does the manifesto leave investment in these ‘wider determinants of health? It does include some welcome, if limited, measures to boost adult skills and invest in public transport and cycling routes. But it is necessary to look back to the Spending Round to find more substantial, health-enhancing commitments to boost education spend and some additional financing for local councils.
• The big omission on health is any acknowledgement of, or action on, the large ongoing cuts to social security expected to increase child poverty into the start of the next decade, and therefore exacerbate already widening health inequalities. The promised national insurance cuts will do little to boost the incomes of the poorest families due to their size (£32 a year for an employee on Universal Credit) and given the impact is broadly even across the income distribution.
• Improvements in life expectancy are stalling, pressures on the NHS are growing, and the social care system is failing some of the most vulnerable people in society. The Conservative manifesto risks papering over the cracks – prioritising acute need over the long-term investments needed to deliver high quality health and social care and make broader improvements in the health of the population.