BTS calling for investment in public health and social care in a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Download a copy of the letter, or read it below.

Dear Chancellor,
The upcoming budget is an opportunity for the Government to make inroads into its manifesto promise to “invest in preventing disease as well as curing it”. The current Government response to COVID19 underlines the importance of a strong health and care system. Now is the time for the Government to recognise the sheer scale of the challenges facing our NHS and social care services. We have an ageing society living with multiple health conditions, growing health and economic inequalities, an NHS and social care workforce at breaking point, a tired NHS estate and a fragile social care system.

Additional NHS funding announced by the last Prime Minister was a welcome boost, but this will only keep the system ticking over. This Government has an opportunity to create a healthier, happier and fairer well-led society where health and wellbeing are at the centre of all policies. From education to employment and housing, transport to the environment; a legacy that would be remembered for generations to come.

This will only be achieved through sustained investment into the health and social care system however. We are calling on the Government to use this budget to invest in public health and social care. The Local Government Association puts the Adult Social Care funding gap at £3.6 billion by 2024/25 and the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation calculates that public health similarly needs an extra £3.2 billion.

The NHS does not operate in isolation. It is part of a wider health and care ecosystem, and the Government must recognise that unless we invest in all parts of the system, plans for truly integrated care will never be realised. This would mean patients being failed, and demand on the NHS continuing to grow in an unmanaged way. The time to invest is now.

We urge you to seize the opportunity to create a healthier and more prosperous nation.

Yours sincerely

Full list of signatories

Royal College of Physicians

Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain & Ireland

Association of British Clinical Diabetologists

Association of British Neurologists

Association of Cancer Physicians

British Association for Sexual Health & HIV

British Association of Audiovestibular Physicians

British Association of Dermatologists

British Association of Stroke Physicians

British Cardiovascular Society

British Geriatrics Society

British Infection Association

British Nuclear Medicine Society

British Pharmacological Society

British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology

British Society for Haematology

British Society for Rheumatology

British Society for Immunology

British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine

British Thoracic Society

Clinical Genetics Society

Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine

Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management

Faculty of Occupational Medicine

Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine

Faculty of Physician Associates

Faculty of Public Health

Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine

Intensive Care Society

Society of Endocrinology