In report on long-term care, 2020health recommends action to prevent and delay dependency

By Jonathan Isaby
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Yesterday 2020health, the think tank focusing on health issues, published its latest report, Take Care - The Future Funding of Social Care.

It finds that more emphasis needs to be placed on the prevention or delay of dependency, thereby reducing overall costs within both social care and the NHS. It also calls for the support and development of technological innovations which reduce the cost of care and concludes that a review of the financial model needs to facilitate better integration between the NHS and social care.

Its conclusion is summarised as follows:

"The funding and provision of social care in England is widely acknowledged to be in need of reform, and over the past decade a variety of papers, committees and reports have made suggestions for what reform should look like. Two major challenges accentuate the need for change. Firstly, as a result of the “baby boomer” population approaching retirement and old age, a large increase in demand for social care is predicted over the next two decades. Secondly, the current economic situation and government attempts to reduce the deficit are resulting in funding cuts to local government budgets, which are responsible for a large proportion of social care funding.

This review of studies provides an overview of the state of social care today and the many suggestions for reform. Predictions of demographic changes over the next 20 years show that the size of the over-70 population, those most likely to be in need of care, will rise from 6.2 million in 2010 to 9.6 million in 2030, an increase of over 50%. People of working age fund a large proportion of care provision through taxes, and the ratio of those of working age to those aged 70 or over is projected to fall from 5.3:1 in 2010 to 3.7:1 in 2030. There is evidence that as people live longer lives they are also living healthier, and that the years lived with disability are declining, but it is highly likely nevertheless that the increased numbers of older people will lead to increased demand for social care, and hence funding."

Click here to download a pdf of the full report.

2020health says that for healthcare competition to be real, there has to be a chance of failure

By Paul Goodman
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Julia Manning, Chief Executive of 2020health, (and ConservativeHome contributor) is telling it as she sees it on the Government's health bill, in a submission published today.

Its headline recommendations are as follows:

• Don’t hamper competition
• Admit choice has its limits
• Don’t undermine NICE
• Put safety ahead of sentimentality – allow failure
• Merge CQC and Monitor and stop self-assessment
• Introduce payment-by-results for patients
• Increase chances for co-payments

Continue reading "2020health says that for healthcare competition to be real, there has to be a chance of failure" »

2020Health: At least £3.3 billion of taxpayer’s money is not being spent on genuine healthcare needs

Matthew Barrett

A new report by 2020health's Chief Executive, Julia Manning, is entitled "Stealing the NHS: How careless is the NHS being with our tax money?", and is based on the findings of a survey of 357 NHS Trusts including hospitals and Primary Care Trusts.

• 3 NHS Trusts had, in one or more of the past 3 years, undertaken NO fraud investigations – the most was 90 in one year
• Only half of Foundation Trusts (and all Hospitals have been told they have to become Foundation Trusts) responded to the survey – compared to 87% of PCTs
• The current regulations only ask about the activity reporting process, not any outcomes, e.g. how much money has gone missing or how they have reduced fraud

249 Trusts (out of 357) in all responded, the breakdown of which is:

• Response rate from NHS Foundation Trusts: 49.6%, 47.7% of these withheld some or all information
• Response rate from Acute Hospital Trusts: 87%, 52.2% of these withheld some or all information
• Response rate from Primary Care Trusts: 78.5%, 47.9% of these withheld some or all information 

The report recommends NHS Trusts are more transparent about counter-fraud activity and spending, that reporting requirements are changed to provide clear and accurate information about fraud losses and what preventative measures are in place, and to fine NHS Trusts who do not publish information about their counter-fraud outcomes.

Julia Manning said:

"We were shocked at the complacency of some NHS Trusts. They seem to have forgotten that it is our tax money that they are responsible for and that we have a right to know that it's being spent on healthcare. Others Trusts were obviously taking scrutiny of their spending very seriously. At a time when the NHS is being asked to save £4bn a year it’s incredible to think that so much money is being stolen while patients are being denied new drugs."

2020health calls for high-tech monitoring of the chronically sick

By Jonathan Isaby

A new report from the think-tank 2020health was published last night, which calls for urgent ministerial support to facilitate the use of the remote capture and relay of health information from the home of those with long term conditions (LTCs), for clinical review and early intervention.

Healthcare without walls – a framework for delivering telehealth at scale makes three key recommendations:

1. Amend tariffs/incentive schemes to recognise and reward telehealth- and teleconsultation-enabled services on a consistent basis across the NHS;
2. Create improved public awareness around telehealth and its ability to enable better self-care - leading to systemic improvements across health and social care;
3. Establish a national framework of support and expertise in telehealth to share best practice.

Julia Manning, director of 2020health, explains:

“Properly implemented this is a prescription for the next generation and would easily save the NHS up to £1 billion. If things are left as they are now, however, the pressure that the LTCs put on the NHS and social care could overwhelm it. Doing nothing is not an option. Government needs to grasp this nettle and make enabling telehealth a national priority now.

“If we get this right now, we can improve the quality and affordability of patient care for the next generation. Implemented effectively, the remote capture of information from patient in the home, distance learning and consultations can all improve the patient’s care and quality of life by reducing the need for appointments and emergency admissions to hospital. It also means nurses’ and GPs’ time can be focused on genuine needs instead of taking routine measurements.”

Click here to download the full report.

2020health calls on Government to formally evaluate the pros and cons of emerging medical technologies

By Jonathan Isaby

This afternoon, the think tank 2020health has issued a new report, Health, humanity and justice: Emerging technologies and health policy in the 21st Century, which urges the Government to establish a formal process to evaluate the benefits and risks of emerging medical technologies.

The think-tank identifies a number of high risk technologies being in particular need of assessment, which will need to command public confidence if they are to be developed:

• The use of IT implants including brain computer interface and external IT devices to enhance human capacities
• The use of neuro-therapeutics (smart brain drugs) for lifestyle purposes: medications originally designed for a particular therapeutic purpose are increasingly being used off-license and off-prescription in healthy people 
• The use of synthetic biology to create artificial life
• Genetic prediction

Julia Manning (pictured), the author of the report and director of 2020health, observed:

“We cannot afford to be Luddites automatically rejecting technologies as they may offer the prospect of preventing or curing debilitating illnesses. But this should not lead us without careful analysis to accept the case for ‘enhancement’ or to forget to consider carefully the potential dual uses of these advances.

“We believe that there is a crucial distinction between new technology that is used to cure or prevent disease and new technology that is used to enhance individual human capacities.”

The full report can be read on the 2020health website.

'How to save the NHS £12bn in one year without stopping a single operation'

The 2020Health think tank is launching a report - Cutting the costs without cancelling the Services - which outlines ways to save the NHS £12bn in one year.

2020Health is led by Julia Manning, a member of the Tory candidates list, and enjoys close links to Andrew Lansley, the Health secretary. Commenting on the report - written jointly with Gail Beer and Emma Hill - Ms Manning states:

“The NHS can deliver £12 billion in savings over the next year which can be re-invested in new technology and elderly care... There is no need for health trusts to make rash decisions, cancelling operations or axing doctors which will permanently affect clinical outcomes for patients. These savings can be made ahead of the longer term changes that will save money such as reconfiguration of services, reducing practice variation, reducing low-level demand and opening up more competition.”

The following economies are among some of those suggested:

• Merging emergency services administration – SAVE £14.4m
• Investing to improve staff’s health and wellbeing, reduce sickness absence and so cut agency worker’s costs – SAVE £555m
• Forcing mergers of pathology labs to save duplication – SAVE £880m
• 5% across the board pay cut for all NHS staff for just one year – SAVE £1.8bn
• Withholding hospital payments for hospital acquired infections – SAVE £150m
• Slashing management spend - SAVE £1.5bn
• Enhancing NHS counter fraud measures, encouraging trusts to see fraud as a business risk - SAVE £1bn
• Halting any new building plans - SAVE £800 million
• Making NHS IT fit for purpose - SAVE £2bn
• Reducing dependency on prescriptions and medicines waste – SAVE £1.6bn

2020Health calls for end to cosmetic surgery on NHS and fines for people who repeatedly use casualty departments as result of alcohol misuse

Julia Manning, Tory PPC, CentreRight contributor and Chief Executive of the medical think tank 2020Health, has issued a report that calls for a crackdown on "frivolous" uses of the NHS.

The report - "Responsibility in Healthcare" - calls for:

• An end to NHS funding of cosmetic procedures and treatment for conditions such as acne;
• Common pain killers and cold remedies to no longer be available on the NHS;
• Fines for people who routinely use casualty departments because of alcohol and drug misuse (Policy Exchange made similar recommendations at the end of last year).

Julia Manning said:

“The universal healthcare system is at the core of our society, but too often it is treated with the same casual regard as calling for a taxi or booking a train ticket. We must encourage people to be more in control of their own health. It’s reassuring to know that the NHS is there for you, but that doesn’t mean you should be free to routinely end up there after a night out.”

Download a PDF of the 2020Health Press Release.