Coalition of 21 health organisations demands political action on health and care

A group of 21 health organisations has set out what it sees as essential elements that politicians must include in their manifestos on the future of the NHS and social care, ahead of the general election next May. These included a commitment to adequate funding, a government-wide approach to keeping people well, and an end to top-down reorganisation of the NHS and social care.

One of the groups backing the call—the NHS Confederation, the membership body for commissioners and providers of NHS services—condemned what it called a “summer of silence” from political parties on the challenges facing health and social care. The Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Physicians, and the College of Emergency Medicine are all supporting the action.

The 2015 Challenge Manifesto1 described where health and care services should be heading and what political parties need to cover when setting out their …