Labour to Announce its Own Health Care Commission

Ed Miliband is expected to announce later today that a Labour government must make money spent on the NHS go further. Labour is to set up an independent commission to investigate how best to integrate health and social care. It will be led by former Department of Health specialist Sir John Oldham.

It is no secret that the NHS is facing huge financial challenges as the cost of health care rises. It is thought that in his announcement, Mr. Miliband will say that growing care needs will leave a shortfall of up to £29bn a year unless services can be delivered more efficiently.

"The NHS will always be a priority for expenditure under a Labour government, but we must make every pound we spend go further at a time when our NHS faces the risk of being overwhelmed by a crisis in funding because of care needs by the end of this decade."

While the Blair government was able to throw large amounts of money at the NHS, Mr. Miliband wants to set a different approach, the reality is that there will not be the resources for a future Labour government to do the same.

There will be greater focus on preventing people getting ill and more care being provided directly in people's homes so they avoid unnecessary hospital visits. Mr Miliband will say that services should be organised around the needs of patients, rather than patients around the needs of services. 

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Image: Medihill, Flickr