Gerard Toplass’ Post

Navigating the cost of care 📖 Knowing where to begin with funding care at home can be challenging, especially as there are many different options out there and it may not always be clear which apply to you or your loved one. There are a range of different options available to those seeking care at home, including: ✨ Private funding - covering care costs independently ✨ Personal budgets - these allocate funds tailored to your needs ✨ Direct payments - receiving money directly to manage your care ✨ NHS funding - accessing healthcare-funded support ✨ Local Authority funding - getting financial assistance from your local council Funding care can be a tricky subject to discuss with a loved one. During a Care Consultation, a senior member of our team will help to identify which options may be suitable, depending on the individual's personal situation and their requirements. You can find further information about funding care through our website here: https://lnkd.in/eR9aczEQ If you have any queries about the costs of care, funding options, or a loved one's care needs, you can request a free consultation with one of our experts. If you'd like to learn more about the services we offer, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We'd love to discuss how we can support you or your loved ones. ☎ 01923 521 004 ✉ watford@bridgewaterhomecare.co.uk 🌐 https://lnkd.in/dcXv9Q3t Watford & West Herts Chamber of Commerce (W3RT) Bridgewater Home Care Franchise Hannah Say

Major changes to AN-ACC funding present a much-needed victory for certain pockets of the aged care sector. Regional and rural providers should be especially excited over funding boosts after being lumped together with metropolitan providers in some scenarios. However, the devil is certainly in the details here, with some of the changes ultimately proving there will always be winners and losers. More: https://lnkd.in/g2R7pewd #agedcare #finance #funding #agedcareaustralia

At the moment the biggest shareholder of the NHS is the public and the funders are tax payers. What would happen if Private Equity owned 50%? It would not be the hardest of pills or would it? Private equity funds is an incredible model opportunity clearly evidenced in the field of substance misuse clinics, mental health and some niche private health & Care providers. In the UK the love affair with the NHS has suffered the same cycle typical of a curve from loving to disconnection. Is the tax payer the right investor? For every £ spent by the tax payer what is the ROI? If you had someone from an M&A background assess the sum of the parts in Health & Care would they all equal to a value based return? Examples include should R&I be funded by tax payers or by private equity? Other areas such as diagnostics what would happen if shared diagnostic centres could be funded differently but used as a centralised resource by all hospitals? What would happen if Estates which currently need to prove value by realms of business cases outlining one off costs to how recurring maintenance can be funded we're outsourced to a private equity estate management company which looked at ROI? There are so many other examples. The truth is the sum of parts Vs the whole of Health & Care are big discovery areas and to look at sustainable models in funding you have to be brave enough to ask questions. The hardest routes for an external funder outside of the taxpayer is the ROI model and the exit route. In mental health private funding by individuals who can afford it or the NHS who need additional capacity has allowed Private Equity to see the opportunity. For the NHS if sustainable financing is to be looked at perhaps the biggest question should also be who should fund it?

RANT ALERT The disproportionate allocation of funds in the latest UK budget, with £22.6 billion directed toward the NHS and only £600 million to adult social care, underscores a fundamental misunderstanding of how to sustainably "fix" the NHS and ensure better health outcomes overall. The NHS is a critical safety net, and as such needs our protection. It is a place where we should strive to minimize admissions, emphasizing treatment and care in the community, and speed up discharges. This approach would reduce pressure on hospitals, which are often overwhelmed by preventable cases. To achieve this, the government MUST prioritise investment in the social care sector. Social care plays a vital role in both preventing hospital admissions by managing conditions effectively within the community, and facilitating timely and efficient discharges by providing adequate post-hospital care. Underfunding this sector perpetuates hospital overcrowding, extended patient stays, and poorer outcomes for individuals who could otherwise be cared for in more appropriate settings. Redirecting funding towards Social Care would better address the root causes of NHS pressures, reducing demand on hospitals and creating a more integrated, patient-centered health and care system. Without this shift in focus, the NHS will remain in a critical state no matter how much money is thrown at it. Rant over.

PCNs in England underspent on ARRS funding by more than £45m in the year 2023/24, with only 10% of that redistributed to PCNs, according to figures obtained by FOI https://bit.ly/3KBzZE3 #primarycare #healthcare

Do you work within GP Practice / PCN / ICS - get signed up to our webinar on how we can help you access the NHS England £48 million reimbursement fund designed to modernise GP services by funding pathways and demand and capacity tools. The session will cover: ⍟ What is the NHSE reimbursement funding? ⍟ How do you access the fund? ⍟ How does Access Elemental Social Prescribing meet the system requirements? Any questions jusy give me a shout 🙌

OBSERVATIONS: 1. When hospitals get sold to other hospitals, how does this affect patients and their rights to access, care and timely recovery? How would it affect patient outcomes? 2. Did you know that Catholic Health Initiatives, CHI’s, a hospital based on the belief of “life-saving” practices for its in-house Obstetric patients, forgot to put safeguards in — to protect future OB patients’ rights for maternal-related care —when selling their hospitals to affiliates, and/or non-profits, that did not continue to offer like principles or practices for a community’s maternal healthcare needs. And, when a buyer, with little knowledge of how to run a hospital, was more interested in raising the cost of care to patients, to give stockholders and themselves more profit, it was the start of a downward spiral in Obstetric Care being available in the future. Then, when needing more profitability, those same CEO’s decided to close down their Obstetric Departments all together. And unfortunately, closing hospitals in rural communities has worsened the maternal mortality rates overall. 3. How do we stop the epidemic of hospital closures in general and Obstetric Departments specifically? Medical consumers have the power to demand an accounting! Let’s do it together!

Despite the presence of the NHS, rising healthcare costs in the UK continue to impact individuals and families, particularly with services and treatments not fully covered. From dental care to elective procedures, out-of-pocket expenses are on the rise. We have had instances of clients being in pain and having to wait over six months for an operation. We had a client who had so much pain from a knee that she was losing sleep, and it was affecting so many areas of her life. She had six months to wait for the operation. We suggested that she paid for it. She was not super wealthy but comfortable with a reasonable amount of savings. After the initial response I should not have to and I have paid tax for years which we completely understand. I asked what is this money for? We got the fairly usual answer - rainy day and emergencies. We suggested that it was pouring at the moment.  We were able to show her it was affordable and plan for potential care costs and other catastrophes and show it was affordable. We even stress tested against a market crash and it was affordable. Result: she had the operation and is now living an active life and not in pain. Life is for living. This underscores the importance of having a solid financial plan.

So, a £22.6bn day-to-day increase in NHS budget and a £3.1bn investment in its capital budget which will allow 40,000 extra hospital appointments and procedures each week and includes £1.5bn for new hospital beds Flip side is we are told ‘at least’ £600m for social care as a whole where we have an aging population This does not seem equitable given this is being paid for by National Insurance being increased for employers – employers who are WITHIN the Sector. This will again hit private sector care operators directly in the pocket but how much of this £600m will actually come through to support proper LA fees being paid to allow care workers to be paid properly for the hard work they undertake Once again there appears to be no meaningful strategy for Social Care where IF this was funded properly and aligned this could provide a much-improved system as a whole

The NHS as a driver of economic growth—that is the vision of Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in the new Labour government in the UK. He also sees a need to shift care increasingly out of the hospital setting, boost prevention and embrace digital healthcare.   Speaking of the role of the NHS, Streeting said: “This is no longer simply a public services department—this is an economic growth department, and the health of the nation and the health of the economy are inextricably linked.”   Streeting believes “if we can marry our health and social care system with the incredible life sciences and medtech ecosystem we have in this country, we can be a powerhouse for the life sciences and medtech revolution here in this country … and in the world. And that is an economic growth mission.”   The NHS has one of the largest workforces in the world, and Streeting thinks that “as anchor institutions, the NHS, the social care system, we can be drivers of economic growth in every part of the country.” He added: “It also means ending the begging bowl culture, where the only interaction the Treasury has with the Department of Health and Social Care is: ‘We need more money for X, Y and Z.’”   On reform of the NHS, he said: “Conservative politicians are now conceding publicly what many have been saying privately for a long time, which is, just as only Nixon could go to China, only Labour can reform the National Health Service.” In his view, reform will require some “tough love,” but he does not envisage major changes to the organisational structure of the NHS. Rather, he identifies three overarching priorities:   • “A shift in the centre of gravity—out of hospital into the community, primary care, community services, mental health, social care.”   • “A shift from a service that's hopefully focused on treating sickness to a cross-government, cross-society focus on preventing illness in the first place.”   • “A shift from an analogue system that still has too many pagers and fax machines to one that is not only benefiting from, but drives, the life sciences and medtech revolution here and internationally.”   Responding to the interview, the ABPI set out its priorities for the first 100 days of the new administration, including the following actions:   • Pass outstanding UK clinical trials legislation to enhance the UK’s attractiveness for inward investment. • Increase commercial flexibility in the NHS England Commercial Framework for New Medicines to remove barriers for companies to launch new drugs and indications.   • Support NICE’s rapid review of its disease severity modifier.   Given that Streeting has described the #NHS as “broken” at present, it will be no easy task to make it “an economic #growth department,” but the new Secretary of State has at least set out his stall.   I recently delivered a webinar on what the new #UK government may mean for the NHS and pharma. Get in touch if you would like a copy of my slides.