Steven Broomhead on the challenge of health in Warrington

We all love, respect and support the NHS and the local health care system partners that are integral in maintaining our wellbeing.

Regrettably the past few months have shown that the health and care system is buckling despite the heroic efforts of fatigued staff to meet the demands of an increasingly unhealthier town.

The simple fact is that our services are close to being overwhelmed by demand with record numbers of people waiting for treatment and ambulance delays to be admitted for treatment. There is a shortage of beds and staff and there is approximately 10 per cent of patients occupying beds despite being medically fit to be discharged. There is a major challenge in providing adequate numbers of professional staff and enough beds in care homes to deal with the patients who are unkindly described in NHS speak as “having no right to reside”. A number of care homes have also closed in the past few years as a result of insolvencies.

Nobody is in denial that there is now a permacrisis in health and social care. All the key partners in the town (hospital, GPs, council, voluntary sector, pharmacies and public health) are working tirelessly and with creativity to try and resolve the issues. A solution orientated approach exists.

More money is being made available by government but unfortunately, previous long term under investment in health infrastructure means that we have fewer beds than we need. The current situation has slowly unfolded and was predictable. A new hospital for the town would be a God send alongside a boost in the status, morale and pay levels for all the overstretched individuals in the health system, given the significant number of increasing vacancies that exist. Unfortunately minimum wage pay is standard in domiciliary and social care and some people find it more attractive to take up less emotionally draining roles in a growing logistics sector.

When you consider that our town has an ageing population and 60 per cent of over 65s have two or more health conditions, and it is that group that account for 66 per cent of all admissions to our local hospital, you can see that we have a major challenge. There will be a need for a continuation of the ridiculously and consistent hard work by all and also a need for recognition that we need urgent new investment, better pay and incentives and a constant review of how the system actually works and the benefits it provides so that we have a happier, healthier town. That’s our number one challenge for 2023.

A recent national survey revealed that over 66 per cent of people felt the NHS has got worse in the past five years. We really must not lose our confidence in our local heath and care system as free at the point of demand service delivered by heroic loyal staff. Perhaps it’s about time to invest more in health prevention and admission avoidance into hospital?