Oxford: NHS cutbacks hit social care

Oxfordshire's social services are creaking at the seams because of the NHS funding crisis, councillors claim - reports the Oxford Mail.

County councillors are set to complain to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust that changes to its services are putting the social care department under extreme pressure.

On Tuesday, members of the council's cabinet called for a halt to cuts in community-based NHS services. The knock-on effect has forced the council to spend £250,000 more on social care at this stage of the financial year than projected.

This figure looks set to more than double by the end of March next year, as NHS cuts cause demand for council-run services to grow.

At the cabinet meeting, councillors were told that:

- a joint primary care trust and council budget used to buy care home beds for the elderly was £300,000 overspent by the end of May and planned expenditure for September was now being used;

- an NHS fund to pay for long-term care beds was not increased in line with inflation this year, putting more pressure on the same budget

- the ORH is reducing the average length of time people spend in hospital, leading to increased demand for social care beds;

- some 31 beds in the Radcliffe Infirmary have been closed this year and while PCTs are paying for alternative beds this financial year, there is no commitment for payment to continue next year.

With this news, can Oxford's MPs in all conscience vote billions of pounds extra per year away to the EU - completely without justification - while local services clearly need more cash to provide necessary care? What would such irresponsible choices with scarce public money communicate to local voters about the real interest of their MPs in ensuring decent local health and social care services?