By stewartb
The independent health think tank, the Nuffield Trust has been responding to this and other early actions on health taken by the Labour government. (with my emphasis)
1. Commenting on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s announcement of £82 million in funding for new GPs (July 31, 2024), Nuffield Trust Director of Research and Policy Dr Becks Fisher states:
“Routing this funding through groups of GP practices known as Primary Care Networks is a pragmatic move to ensure this action can be taken quickly. But we should be clear that it is ultimately an interim solution and will likely have unintended consequences. Funding allocated through these networks doesn’t take account of levels of deprivation: this proposal risks worsening the already inequitable distribution of GPs between richer and poorer areas, and across different parts of the country.
“Government’s attention to general practice is welcome, and this workaround solution shouldn’t detract from the bigger questions about how to increase investment in general practice, and how we can retain and support the GP workforce.”
2. ‘What is the government’s pay offer to junior doctors and how much will it cost the NHS? A Q&A’ (August 2, 2024)
Sally Gainsbury, Senior Policy Analyst at the Nuffield Trust, states:
“… our calculations suggest that the costs of this settlement will be in the region of £600 million extra over the two-year period, or £530 million if pension contributions are excluded.
“The additional costs to the NHS for the financial year that ended in March 2024 are likely to result in the health service reporting a deficit for that year. We don’t yet know the financial envelope for this current financial year, as the Chancellor will confirm that at the budget in October.” (Given that NHS England doesn’t yet know’ that must mean the Scottish Government is in the dark over its budget position too?)
Elsewhere in its briefing the Nuffield Trust states: ‘It is not yet clear how the 2023/24 pay deal will be reported in the accounts, but for context, NHS England’s board reports show that it ended the financial year 2023/24 with just a £30 million surplus, clearly not sufficient to cover the £210 million extra cost now added to that year’s pay bill.’
3. ‘Significant blow to social care sector as workforce training fund cancelled’ (July, 30 2024)
Responding to the government’s decision to discontinue the Adult Social Care Training and Development Fund, Nuffield Trust Deputy Director of Policy, Natasha Curry said:
“Taking away limited funding that had been set aside for upskilling and training much needed social care staff looks desperately shortsighted and is a significant blow for the sector. This, taken on top of the indefinite delay to a cap on social care costs announced by the Chancellor, looks like yet another troubling decision to deprioritise social care in order to plug gaps in health funding.‘
The statement ends with this: “The new government states that it is committed to the workforce and long-term plans for social care reform. We now need to see concrete action to reassure that these promises are not simply rhetoric. Sadly, so far what we have seen is consistent with social care continuing to play poor relation to the NHS.”
I suppose, as is normal, the Scottish Government will just need to ‘spectate’ patiently until the Labour Westminster government works out all these health and social care matters to meet England’s needs and wants!
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
the Scottish Government will not only have to keep on second guessing UK Government policy, UK government budgets for devolved matters in England and how much money is to be found from departmental savings but how much will in future be syphoned off by the Colonial Governor when he is granted his new spending powers.
No doubt his priority will be to show his London Masters that the tough decisions made by the UK Government are peelie-wallie compared to his decisions on distributing the block grant in Scotland.
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It was striking how many of the bills in the King’s Speech related only to England. Clearly, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will just have to wait until the colonial masters have decided how much is to be spent in England before the devolved nations will be told what their budgets are.
I suspect, too, that the Single Market Act will be deployed so that the funding goes via the colonial governor generals to make the devolved governments ‘comply’ before distributing the ‘not-quite-largesse’.
Alasdair Macdonald.
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‘It was striking how many of the bills in the King’s Speech related only to England’
Now to be ‘fair’ important ones did extend and apply to Scotland! Recall this notably relevant one: ‘Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill’ concerning representation in the House of Lords. Of course Lords Spiritual are important as they seek to influence government in Westminster.
As I remarked in an earlier blog post: In the Church website’s news section one finds this: ‘General Synod: Presidential Address by the Archbishop of York (5 July, 2024) – the Presidential Address by The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, at the York 2024 group of sessions of the General Synod.’
The Archbishop is quoted: ’Other huge challenges face our new government, the huge challenges that face our nation and our world, of which we in the Church of England stand ready to help because the scriptures that shape us demand it.’ (my. emphasis)
And he goes on: ’General Synod, in our witness and service to the nation as the established Church of this land, and in order to fulfil our vision to be the church for everyone everywhere, and in a new beginning for our nation with a new government, we need …’ (to follow the example set by named former clergy/members in the church).’
So a crucially important Bill for Scotland!
See: ‘Labour government Bill on the ‘Lords Spiritual’ extends and applies to Scotland: should we be grateful, reassured … puzzled?’
Source: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2024/07/21/labour-government-bill-on-the-lords-spiritual-extends-and-applies-to-scotland-should-we-be-grateful-reassured-puzzled/
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