Waiting lists are growing and staff are exhausted. Long-term planning and investment are the only way back to good health
On Tuesday, the Queen’s speech will offer a preview of the government’s plans for the health service’s recovery from the pandemic. An NHS bill is expected to give back to the secretary of state powers to direct the service in England that were delegated under previous reforms. Clinical commissioning groups will be merged into a smaller number of new bodies to be known as integrated care systems, with a new responsibility to work with councils on social care. NHS England’s boss, Sir Simon Stevens, is stepping down.
Exactly what these changes will mean on the ground remains to be seen. But they will not heal the wounds inflicted by the pandemic on an already under-resourced service. The Johnson government’s record on public service reform is short and unimpressive. The two Conservative prime ministers before him did far too little to address the long-term health challenges facing the country, notably the increasing demands of an ageing population and the toll of chronic and mental illnesses. The failure to legislate for a new funding model for social care must be counted, along with the lack of affordable housing, among the biggest social policy failures of the past 10 years.
