Two Tribes? by John Dennis
NHS and Local Authority Social Care Provision
An interesting article appeared on the BBC website last week. It reported that the Baker Commission (Set up by The Kings Fund to look at Health and Social Care provision), had recommended the NHS and Local Authority Social Care Provision should be merged.
This is not really remarkable! This is after all Labour Party policy and the present Government, whilst making no such commitment has established a direction of travel which brings services from both the NHS and Local Authorities into ever closer alignment.
What is remarkable is how slowly this process is moving despite a sense of crisis in Social Care resources and provision. Labour’s commitment does not extend to any detail about how the merger would work and the Coalition seems to prefer small steps rather than any bold resolution.
Could the answer be an unresolved turf war? How would the Department of Health respond if Local Authorities were given the role and resources to deliver all Social Care? How would Council Leaders respond if the NHS were given the role of providing all Social Care?
When “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” recorded the song “Two Tribes” in 1983, they asked “what happens when two tribes go to war?” In this case the answer seems to be “virtual stalemate!’
No comments:
Post a Comment