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** 19 December 2022
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** UK News
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** One in three councils shun ‘impossible’ maximum council tax rise (#1)
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** Opinion: It’s not only the NHS in trouble — the whole country is getting sicker (#2)
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** The mental health patients dying on NHS wards from starvation and neglect (#3)
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** Labour's Wes Streeting says NHS is facing 'existential crisis' and needs reform (#4)
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** UK News
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** One in three councils shun ‘impossible’ maximum council tax rise

Substantially fewer councils than predicted plan to increase council tax by the new maximum limit allowed next year, according to Local Government Chronicle (LGC) research, as metropolitan boroughs warned they face an "impossible choice" between cutting services and raising tax on already hard-pressed residents.

The LGC council tax tracker has so far obtained 2023-24 council tax proposals for 48 councils. Of these more than a third (37%) are not currently planning to implement the maximum permitted rise for their authority.

The figure sheds considerable doubt on indications from the Treasury at the time of the chancellor’s autumn statement that 95% of councils were expected to make full use of the new limit.

In his 17 November statement, Jeremy Hunt announced a new maximum increase in council tax of 4.99% without a referendum. For 2023-24, councils can increase core council tax by 2.99%, with a further 2% increase in the social care precept allowed for top-tier authorities. Districts can raise their council tax element by 2.99%, or £5 on a band D bill if this is higher.

Sir Stephen Houghton (Lab), chair of the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (Sigoma), said that council leaders “face an impossible choice between increasing council tax on hard-pressed families during a cost-of-living crisis and potentially having to cut back on vital front-line services. We should not be in a position where we have to make this choice,” said Cllr Houghton.

He adds that “Council tax increases should not be relied upon to fund council services, especially care services, as it is a regressive tax and the amount raised varies hugely across the country, in a way unrelated to need.”

According to analysis by Sigoma, Surrey CC will be able to raise double per household for each percentage point council tax increase compared to Hull or Manchester.

Source: The Local Government Chronicle, 16 December 2022
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** Opinion: It’s not only the NHS in trouble — the whole country is getting sicker

Writing for the Times, Paul Johnson, director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, states that it is not just that the NHS are struggling with strikes, rising waiting lists and crowded A&E departments; they are also struggling with people’s health getting worse.

Pointing to statistics from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Continuous Mortality Investigation, Johnson states that, there have been 25,000 excess deaths this year, exceeding the figures for 2020 and 2021 and dwarfing the numbers for the years prior.

Johnson writes that more people are spending longer periods of time in hospital and there are issues with discharging them into a social care sector that also seems to be under-funded and under-resourced. With the additional problem of a large backlog of patients who missed treatment or diagnosis as a result of the pandemic, there is a systemic issue which is likely to take years to fix rather than months.

Johnson adds that 44% of working age people who are out of work are disabled and that people with disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to be out of work than those without. The number of those with a disability are increasing and the economic, social and personal costs of this are likewise increasing. The number of claimants of personal independence payments (PIP) doubled this year compared to last year.

All these factors are adding up to a critical period for an already stressed health services and the consequences of this are likely to be with us in the long-run Johnson writes.

He concludes that part of the answer lies with proper funding and staffing for the NHS, but this crisis requires a comprehensive response from the central government and public health: “Public health needs to move up all our agendas.”

Source: The Times, 19 December 2022
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** The mental health patients dying on NHS wards from starvation and neglect

Scores of patients in mental health units have died from physical illnesses that could have been avoided. This article uncovers systemic issues in the health service that experts say are leading to the neglect of the vulnerable.

A systemic failure to provide basic physical care on NHS mental health wards is killing patients across the country, despite scores of warnings from coroners over the past decade. An investigation has uncovered at least 50 “prevention of future death” reports – used by coroners to warn health services of widespread failures – since 2012, involving 26 NHS trusts and private healthcare providers.

Cases include deaths caused by malnutrition, lack of exercise, and starvation in patients detained in mental health facilities. Experts warn that poor training and a lack of funding are factors in the neglect of vulnerable patients.

Coroners have exposed multiple cases of mental health patients receiving inadequate treatment in general hospitals, with their illness being mistaken for a psychiatric problem.

A fifth of patients in mental health units across the country are not receiving basic physical healthcare checks upon admission, according to a report by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death.

The report, carried out this year, warned of “significant missed opportunities” by health services to identify and treat physical health conditions in mental health patients. The review explained that deterioration in physical health often follows admission to inpatient units.

The charity Inquest said that a key problem is the division of healthcare between mental and physical health. Lucy McKay, of Inquest, told The Independent: “Urgent action across the NHS is needed to increase connection and communication between services and ensure mental health units are better integrated with professionals who can monitor and treat physical ill health.”

Source: The Independent, 18 December 2022

See also: National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death- A picture of health ([link removed])
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** Labour's Wes Streeting says NHS is facing 'existential crisis' and needs reform

The Shadow Health Secretary used a speech at the Policy Exchange think-tank to urge Rishi Sunak and Steve Barclay to hold face-to-face talks with unions to avert further strike action from nurses at 'breaking point'.

The NHS is facing an "existential" crisis and needs reform to deliver better standards for patients, Wes Streeting has said. The shadow health secretary’s remarks came after the biggest day of strike action in the Royal College of Nursing's 106-year history and as the health service faces a record backlog.

He said: "I am not going to pretend that the NHS is the envy of the world, or that it is currently delivering a standard of care that patients should be satisfied with. Patients know it’s not true, and NHS staff know it’s not true."

In a speech at the conservative think-tank Policy Exchange, he said a Labour Government would give the NHS the investment and staffing it "deserves".

He cited the party's plans - announced at the autumn conference - to deliver 7,500 more doctors a year by doubling medical school places and 10,000 more nurses and midwives every year.

He said: “The way our NHS works must change and modernise, so it focuses more on prevention, early intervention, better use of technology, and faster, more effective treatment. We have to shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community, providing better care for the patient and better value for the taxpayer."

He also launched a report Policy Exchange setting out a plan to double the number of medical school places to 15,000 by the end of the decade.

The report claims it would result in 45,000 more doctors in the crisis-hit NHS by 2040 - bringing the UK to the OECD average.

Source: The Mirror, 16 December 2022

See also: Policy Exchange- a roadmap to double medical school places ([link removed])
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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