Responding to the Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England led by The Rt Hon. Professor the Lord Darzi, Dr Rhidian Hughes, Chief Executive of the Voluntary Organisations Disability group (VODG) says:
‘While this was a missed opportunity to formally look at the health and social care system as a whole, Lord Darzi’s findings reflect the importance of social care in rebuilding the NHS and ensuring disabled people of all ages receive the care and health outcomes they deserve.
‘Resourcing health and social care support is a significant challenge that must be addressed, but only part of the problem. For too long disabled people, autistic people and people with a learning disability have experienced a second-class service, where communication, respect and understanding of their needs has been severely lacking.
‘Our commission on COVID-19, Ableism and Racism evidenced the devastating impact of intersectional discrimination and found the lack of communication and understanding of people’s needs led to avoidable confusion, isolation and poorer outcomes and sadly in some circumstances losing their lives. People with a learning disability continue to live far shorter lives than those who are not disabled, often due to preventative issues that with the right care and support would not be fatal.
‘The government’s three shifts to reform the NHS - from hospital to community, analogue to digital and sickness to prevention – will only be achieved if social care and the third sector’s community-based provision is utilised to its full potential. As Lord Darzi highlights, ‘social care has not been valued or resourced sufficiently, which has both profound human cost and economic consequences.’ The third sector is critical to achieving these shifts and invaluable to health and care in England.
‘The inequity of disabled people’s access to and experience of healthcare must be urgently addressed. Our members are essential partners in the design and delivery of solutions that meet people’s needs and must be treated as such as the Government seeks a new approach to improve the health outcomes of all in society.’
-ENDS-
Lord Darzi's report can be found here.
Our letter to Lord Darzi can be found here. In it we reiterate the importance of social care and the role of the third sector in ensuring the NHS is able to provide support to everyone, addressing some of the inequity and barriers of access we know disabled people face.