Sally Allen: ‘You couldn’t make it up’ Fears over the future of health services across Torbay

Sad to say, but the country is in the worst mess I can remember in my lifetime, and that is longer than I care to admit to!

All Governments have their fair share of cockups, but the current one wins hands down for being the most incompetent. Bad
decision after bad decision, I think we have all lost count. The alternatives are not much better either and so hand on heart, I have no idea which party I would vote for if we had a general election.

Apart from the obvious clangers which are going to create massive financial repercussions for us all, now and in the future, nobody seems to learn a thing from past mistakes.

Having spent a lot of time in and around Parliament in my former life, I have seen the difference that walking through the hallowed doors and starting life as a new member of parliament can have on those taking up the challenge.

It is not always good, and a number forget very quickly why they were elected and that they are public servants paid for by the public to do a job. Self-serving is the most prominent trait they seem to embrace.

Dare I mention The Prince of Darkness himself, who perfected the art for his own benefit but never for his country’s. He has
made an artform out of using his parliamentary power for his own gain, followed by his own hubris and downfall. But boy did he have a long run at feathering his nest.

Elected in 1992, he has been at the hub of power ever since. If only he had put all his considerable ability and charm into doing good for the nation.

The worst politicians seem to adorn themselves with an overcoat of Teflon to playout their black arts. However, it seems that we have at last arrived at the ‘tipping point’, when even the most blinkered politicians are going to be forced to open their eyes
and see the horror around them.

The knock-on effect to the public for all the mismanagement and self interest is of course, massive and none more evident than in the NHS.

The government raises over £1 trillion a year from taxing us one way or another. On Overseas Development Aid they spend roughly £14 billion; immigration, asylum and border control up to £9 billion; defence £39 billion; the NHS £205 billion and a whopping £323 billion on welfare and could go as high as £330 billion this year.

Ergo, welfare is by far the largest spending area after health, taking up roughly a quarter of total government expenditure. Clearly, this is a huge budget to manage and needs some serious grey matter to apportion it in the best way possible to
ensure maximum benefit to the country.

So, the role of Chancellor is obviously key, ands we have Rachel from accounts sitting in this vital role. My comments on her
lack of ability are not printable. Just fair to say that she, and the relevant department ministers would all be unemployable in the private sector. What a Horlicks!

We have recently seen first-hand the shockingly bad judgement of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) being less than transparent about the Case for Change which will directly impact our NHS services in Devon, and particularly in Torbay. This is something that I have written about relentlessly through my column here, and also the Heart Campaign where we are determined to keep our award-winning Cardiac Unit open and thereby keep acute status for Torbay Hospital.

We will not be deterred or sidelined on this issue and are prepared to go to judicial revue should we be required to do so. We have to fight as a community to keep our services. The stupidity of the government knows no bounds though, as we are learning every day.

Councillor Cat Johns who is chair of the Adult Social Care and Overview and Scrutiny Committee chaired a meeting last Wednesday to discuss with the relevant bodies the future of Section 75 a contract between the Torquay Council and the Torbay Hospital.

The Section 75 agreement in Torbay underpins the Torbay Integrated Care Organisation (ICO) a long-standing (over 20 years), locally unique model that is seen as the gold standard across the UK and one that other parts of the country are considering undertaking.

It integrates NHS health services with adult social care services, aims to reduce hospital admissions, supports people to stay
well in the community, and combines leadership, planning, and funding across organisations.

So, what’s not to like, but of course as other parts of the country are being encouraged to follow this initiative, Torbay is considering pulling the plug. You couldn’t make it up.

The unique arrangements for delivery of adult social care in Torbay have been nationally recognised and are in-line with the NHS 10-year plan encouraging integrated services at a local community level.

Our Council pays the Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust around £68m a year to deliver adult social care on its behalf. The Trust also collects around £23m a year in income from recipients of adult social care in line with charging authorities.

The Trust has advised that there was an annual funding gap of around £35m every year for providing adult social care and that costs have increased by around 48% over the past three years.

Councillor Cat Johns after chairing the meeting said “As chairperson of Adult Social Care and Overview and Scrutiny I took on the challenge and chaired an extraordinary meeting this afternoon with a large number of public spectators, council officers and fellow councillors as well as professionals.

Now, when I say extraordinary the whole meeting was about the future of Section 75 in Torbay and the impact it would have on our vulnerable residents if it became absolute!

A representative of ICB as well as two members of the Trust which included CEO Joe Teape attended. The guests were scrutinised which is the point of our board about section 75 if it was deemed not necessary.

The committee board asked questions about how this would affect Torbay Care Services that we currently provide for patients in our area. The lack of transparency about funding and the fact we require clear guidelines to what support would be for the good people of Torbay.

The committee came away disappointed that the responses to our questions lacked transparency and a real commitment to providing support especially about patients’ health. The answer from the Trust says the services would not change for Torbay but
has no evidence to back that conclusion.

Recommendations have been made and our concerns will be referred to secretary of state. The committee all agreed that public consultation is required and any decisions made about residents’ health should be taken with careful consideration and not kept behind closed doors.

Our full recommendations will be published to the public hopefully tomorrow. The actual decision will be made by the local NHS Trust board on the 5th of March. I pray that all your voices will be heard before such a time.”

In my view, the NHS is without question the most important and urgent issue for the Government to address.

There is an astonishing amount of money being thrown at welfare and the NHS, but the management is clearly inadequate and not serving either the population or their sainted, over worked and under-pressure doctors, nurses, ambulance and other emergency and ancillary staff well.

In fact, they are seriously not fit for purpose.