Wes Streeting’s approach to social care reform is not good enough - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Roger Backhouse, Orchard Road, Upper Poppleton, York.
Re: Scale of bed block problems revealed. (Yorkshire Post 15th December page1).
Sadly, problems of patients taking up hospital beds when they could be in the community are not new. They've been a feature of Yorkshire Post stories since I became a subscriber.
The main causes of the problem are known. There are rising care needs due to an ageing population, inadequate funding for local authorities and sometimes insufficient care available.
Yet previous governments kicked the can down the road and failed to do anything. The Dilnot Report commissioned under, yes, Tony Blair, set out the problem and solutions and other reports followed since. During their 14 years in office the Conservatives did nothing of note to solve the problem.
When Labour came to power it should have known what was needed. Instead Health Secretary Wes Streeting commissioned yet another report, this time from Louise Casey.
That won't report for three years and probably won't say much different from previous reports, except that problems are worse.
Press reports suggest Wes Streeting has ambitions to lead the Labour Party. While there have been some minor but welcome improvements in the health service his allowing the social care problem to fester for another three years is a gross dereliction of duty.
Hardly a suitable candidate to be a future Prime Minister.