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What the Liberal Democrats said
Nick Clegg pledges to protect
mental health services from cuts
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg vowed he
would protect mental health services from cuts during the
recession, after an appeal by campaigners dressed as Cinderella
characters. Mr Clegg promised the campaigners from the charity
Rethink he would fight for mental health services as he signed a
pledge at his party conference in Bournemouth: "At a time of
recession, the need for mental health services is greater than
ever. People must get the right help at the right time to prevent
their problems escalating. It is a false economy not to invest in
mental health services."
Understanding
Dementia
There is underfunding of dementia research said Liberal Democrat
Shadow Health Minister Greg Mulholland and it was a ‘national
scandal’ that costly conditions, like Alzheimer’s, received such
scant attention from the government. “The number of sufferers was
expected to reach 1 million by 2025, reaching over 2 million by
2050, and yet policy makers were not dealing with this ‘time bomb’.
Not only was there a moral duty to tackle dementia, there was an
economic argument to focus more resources on the disease,” he
declared.
Social care and multiple
exclusion
Social Services Minister Phil Hope gave
delegates advance knowledge of an ambitious Government proposal for
the social care sector within Britain hinting that more would be
"announced shortly" about social care policy. The Prime Minister
confirmed the creation of a National Care Service which would
transform the social care sector within Britain.
Mr Hope warned that only a
Labour government would be committed to tackling multiple
exclusion. He pointed out that the government’s investment in
mental health services, the NHS and social care services had led to
a point where the personalisation of services was now the focus. As
a local MP he was aware of silos of local services which did not
link up. He saw the third sector as key in helping people access
other services. He pointed out the work of the social exclusion
taskforce and how much effort had gone into tackling the problems
of people who had multiple needs. He was aware that young people
leaving care were particularly vulnerable and could fall through
the cracks. The Cabinet Committee could drive forward changes in
terms of silo departments and was aware many people fit multiple
categories.
Mental Health Services and Prevention
The creation of a national care service would directly help
those with mental health issues and the homeless, Care Services
Minister Phil Hope said. Services had to focus on the needs of
individuals. 350,000 people with critical care needs were looked
after by their own families, but they would get free care from
October 2010 as part of the new national care service. PCTs had to
work more closely with local authorities to link health and care
services to achieve such aims.
In realtion to helping people with mental health issues he
stated that spending on specialised services had increased by 50%
over the last decade, with 750 community mental health teams now in
place. There was evidence of the value of the IAPT (Improving
Access to Psychological Therapy) programme, and funding for the
programme would increase in 2010/11. He was interested in
other ways to develop the programme.
Prevention was also a priority, such as working to help children
in vulnerable
circumstances and family intervention, since early intervention
could be hugely effective. A holistic approach was important which
would include helping people find employment and housing as well as
therapy. This was reflected in the New Horizons report.
Quality and innovation
These needed to be key drivers within the NHS to increase
efficiency in the current economic climate, Health Minister Mike
O’Brien asserted. In the run up to a general election, there was a
media focus on simplicities and extremes, which portrayed the NHS
as either spending too much or making substantial cuts, while in
reality, neither was likely. He said that the Government had
boosted funding, but the question now was how to maintain quality
during the next decade. Mr O’Brien said that the Government was
looking at making £15-20 billion through savings which could then
be reinvested to maintain the pace of improvement and innovation.
He reminded delegates that the Health Bill was introducing quality
accounts and a national Quality Board. Related to this was the need
to spread innovation across the NHS , for example, through
expanding life sciences, and having a more workable IT system.
Taking the NHS from
good to great
Labour had to take the
National Health Service from good to great, Health
Secretary Andy Burnham
asserted. People from health organisations and charities should
celebrate the human and health progress the UK had made. This was
due to the health organisations working to put certain issues on
the agenda and pushing the Government to take notice. Mr Burnham
observed that many had ‘campaigned long and hard’ on the smoking
ban and that last week was an announcement that the number of heart
attacks in the country had reduced by 14 per cent which would be
directly attributed to the ban and was an example of ‘proper human
progress and delivering a better quality of life’. He also
emphasized the Government’s focus on social care stating that in
the next Parliament there would be legislation for a fairer care
system.
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What the Conservatives said
Theresa May's speech to Conference on Welfare
Reform
Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions Theresa May welcomed Chris
Grayling's green paper on welfare reform and argued that welfare
reform was now more important than ever. Ms May argued that
the Conservative's package to "Get Britain Working" will
simplify Labour's back-to-work programme into a single "Work
Programme", with increased apprenticeships and college places to
help young people. She would also simplify the current back-to-work
schemes. She pledged to retest all incapacity benefit
claimants. Those found fit to work will be moved onto job seekers
allowance, and have their benefits cut appropriately. She would
ensure that people most in need of help would still receive it. She
would increase co-operation with the private sector and NGOs, with
their payment dependent on helping people find a sustainable job.
People who are able to work, but refused to do so, would lose their
benefits.
Cash for health: paying the price for
quality
Shadow Health Minister Mark Simmonds called for an end to the
targets culture in the NHS and a clear focus on healthcare
outcomes. Patient experience was also essential, but he saw this as
linked with delivering
outcomes. Better communication on the type of treatment being
offered and the outcomes being sought would improve the
patient's experience and overall clinical outcomes.
On cost, it was important to
keep a rein on budgets even through the Conservatives would secure
increased spending for the health service.
Mr Simmons called for
commissioning responsibilities to take place closer to patients,
for example, through GPs. Commissioners needed to understand the
problems they were seeking to solve. He acknowledged that
safeguards needed to be in place, for example through tendering
procedures to ensure value for money.
On the link between
clinicians and management, Mr Simmonds thought that a mechanism for
re-empowering decision-making was required, especially in the acute
sector. Clinicians needed to be engaged with management decisions
but he thought that clinicians needed training to acquire the
skills to run large organisations and pledged to work with the
professional bodies to deliver this. He acknowledged the real
tension on reconfiguration of services, but wanted them to be
clinically, not politically, driven.