NHS 1, social care 0
This month brings us the announcement of an extra £20bn for the NHS by 2022; slightly less than its chief executive Simon Stevens has been asking for. It’s become clear that the money will come from as-yet unannounced tax rises that will be elaborated on in the Autumn Budget, expected in November. A consultation after summer will set out the plans for the new funding – with the effect of pushing back the social care green paper that had been due this month; also very noticeable was the complete lack of funding for social care as part of the announcement, despite similarly critical funding issues.
Last chance to feed into new health and care action plan
Last month, a new action plan setting out to deepen partnerships between health bodies and the voluntary sector launched with the backing of key public health bodies, as part the VCSE Review process.
The deadline for responding to the recommendations made in the plan is less than a week away – you can respond by filling in this survey or by emailing publicservices@ncvo.org.uk by 17.00 on 29 June 2018.
The action plan has been jointly agreed between NHS England, Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care and has been adopted by the Health and Wellbeing Alliance, the partnership programme between those bodies and the voluntary sector.
Reporting in
Everyone seems to have been saving up their health report launches for June, and as a result we have a bumper crop for you to digest. First up is the Institute for Government’s wide-ranging review How to fix the funding of the health and social care system, followed closely by the King’s Fund’s look at how digital technology can change and improve health outcomes. Last up is Citizens Advice’s look at integrating advice in primary care settings (by having CAB branches in GP offices), which they hope will build the case for coordinated social prescribing approaches across health and care.
Michael was our senior policy officer until January 2019, covering issues around charity tax and finance (including social investment) and the impact of the economy on the sector. 
