Extra money for social care is a step in the right direction.
Commenting on the Chancellor's Budget speech, Dame Donna Kinnair, Acting Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said:
“The extra money for social care (see note 1) is a step in the right direction but, in truth, those caring for vulnerable people will know that this amount barely touches the sides. The current funding gap for social care is estimated to be £2 billion by 2020 (see note 2) - we need cold hard cash to follow the forthcoming social care green paper and other future proposals.
“The Chancellor is right to recognise the importance voters and taxpayers attach to the NHS. When the 10-year plan is released later this year, the Government and NHS England must show how they will recruit the tens of thousands of extra registered nurses needed to guarantee patient safety.
“Philip Hammond is to be commended for not raising the spectre of regionalised public sector pay as rumours last week suggested. Frontline nurses and care workers defeated this six years ago as a fundamentally unfair move that exacerbates shortages, rather than fix them. This must stay off the Chancellor’s agenda".
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1 Local Government Association, June 2018.2 The Chancellor described this as £650 million, but that amount includes the £240 million already announced for social care earlier this month to combat winter pressures, leaving a total of £410 million.
