As the General Election campaign gathers pace all parties are focusing on the future of our NHS and social care, but it is the Liberal Democrats who are setting the agenda.
The announcement of £8 billion of extra funding and thus the challenge to the two big parties to match it, has been met with stunned silence. Combine this with the proposal for a ‘Care Closer to Home Fund’ and you have a party leadership that is getting to grips with what needs to done in this important policy area.
Contrast this with Ed Miliband’s staggering ignorance evidenced by his promise to fund 5,000 extra care workers for the NHS.
Miliband clearly doesn’t realise that care workers are almost exclusively employed by private companies!
Probably quite a few of them on zero hours contracts.
If this isn’t bad enough, the refusal of Labour to do anything in 13 years of government to reform social care speaks volumes about their real intentions.
The Tories are no better.
Cameron’s talk of a seven day a week NHS and GP service shows he knows nothing of the current problems with out of hours provision.
In my area it is virtually impossible to get a Doctor to visit in the evening or at weekends. This puts unecessary pressure on already overstretched A&E departments. I am pretty sure my little corner of Berkshire isn’t unique.
There is still plenty to do to get the health services we need and that is going to become more urgent as demand increases. Some joined up working between the various agencies would be a start. Less bureacracy would help too.
However it is the Lib Dems who are focusing on how we really need to improve things. Without Ministers like Norman Lamb, we would not have the legislation that is now on the statute book.
Commitments to more funding, help for unpaid carers and now the idea for the ‘Care Close to Home Fund’, build on that and are positive steps on the road we need to travel.
* David Warren is a regular reader of Lib Dem Voice and is currently campaigning with the Guildford Lib Dem team.