Legislative proposals for the Health and Care Bill – is it going far enough?

The UK Government  has recently released a White paper  Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care, setting out legislative proposals for a Health and Care Bill.

There is a current inquiry  to examine the proposals in the Paper and the extent to which the proposals will deliver integrated health and care services throughout England. The inquiry will also consider the extent to which the White Paper delivers the necessary long-term plans for social care and the health and social care workforce; and the proposals to confer additional powers on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

This February, one of our BHMA members and Founder Director of Our NHS Our Concern, Dr Arun Baksi, launched a  38 degrees petition to draw attention to the Bill and campaign for a new model of working.  Dr Baksi believes one of the major short-comings of the white paper is that it pays little attention to social care, which is left to another day. Without knowing the full plans that the government has for social care, local authorities will no doubt find it difficult to meaningfully collaborate with other partners.