NHS and social care quality and finance

Labour’s Opposition Day debate will examine access to NHS and social care, informed by a motion which notes our recent QualityWatch: Cause for concern report published with the Health Foundation. Our briefing focuses on the findings of our recent research looking at the views of health and social care leaders, the state of quality in the NHS and social care, data on NHS provider finances and information on the pressures on NHS hospitals.

Key findings include: 

• Health and social care leaders reported increasing concern over the financial outlook for the NHS, and growing anxieties over the state of social care
• In many ways the NHS has shown signs of continued improvements when we look at care quality now compared to the past. But there are clear indications that we may be failing to hold onto some of these gains
• After initially dealing well with austerity, both hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups have been struggling over the past financial year
• The ageing and growing population means there will be significant pressure on hospital beds in the future, but analysis of the past seven years shows us that reducing lengths of stay can absorb some of this pressure.