BGS submission to the House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry on the long-term sustainability of the NHS

Submitted on 23 September 2016: The British Geriatrics Society (BGS) has responded to a House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry on the long-term sustainability of the NHS. The BGS believes that the future sustainability of the NHS is dependent on ensuring that people with the right skills, training and specialist expertise are available to meet the needs of the rapidly increasing number of older people living with frailty, dementia and multiple, complex long-term conditions, and that re-modelling to deliver services through a person-centred approach to care, which includes a review of social care and its funding, is essential.

Download the full submission here (pdf)
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Outline of issues commented on in the BGS submission:

1. Financial viability

  • Spending on social care and reviewing social care and its funding
  • Intermediate care
  • Demand management
  • Engaging the public

2. Workforce

  • Addressing the current workforce crisis
  • Training

3. Models of service delivery and integration

  • Accounting for great life expectancy and moving from disease focused models to those which support people with multiple long term medical conditions
  • Use of technological solutions in service design

4. Prevention and public engagement

  • Prevention and treatment of frailty in older people

5. Community and tertiary provision

  • Availability of age-appropriate infrastructure

6. Digitisation of services, big data and informatics