We need to integrate the National Health Service and Social Care - Yorkshire Post Letters

I write in complete support of the article by Mike Padgham to integrate the National Health Service and Social Care. The prospect of a Department of Social Care and Health to help the 1.6 million people without social care and the 14,000 people daily unable to be discharged from hospital is a very appealing objective.

Considerable efforts have been made to improve the effectiveness of the present structure, but it cannot continue in the form of separate National and Council management. The evidence for change is clear.

I was involved as a lay Chair of Health Authorities and Health Trusts in Sheffield, Trent Region, and North Yorkshire for over 40 years. I remember the huge NHS reorganisation in 1974 and the lengthy process to change the entire structure of the NHS.

The process was successful eventually, but the loss of staff through early retirement, and occasionally re-employment on an agency basis, made it a long and painful process. Later smaller reorganisations were similar.

The prospect of the reorganisation to merge a large part of Local Authorities and the NHS is even more challenging and retention and support of Staff is essential.

I hope that a special process can be devised by the new Government to establish this new Department immediately, and develop an effective performance review system to ensure local and personal management responsibility for good quality of Social Care and NHS services. Hopefully, without a vast system of data collection from the patient to the Government department.

The close day to day working of Care and NHS staff is the key to a real improvement in both services.