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Healthcare reforms are ‘long overdue’, says Bishop of London

23 July 2024

More thought is needed on inequality and social care, she says in King’s Speech debate

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GIVING a cautious welcome to the new Government’s first healthcare announcements, the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, has expressed regret at the absence of provision in relation to social and palliative care.

Speaking in the House of Lords last week during the second of six days of debate on the King’s Speech (News, 19 July), Bishop Mullally welcomed the planned continuation of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, and the pledge to legislate to restrict junk-food advertising to children and the sale of high-caffeine drinks.

“As we have heard, obesity is one of the major health challenges that we face, and, again, its impacts are hugely unequal.”

Bishop Mullally also welcomed commitments to banning “conversion practices” and updating the Mental Health Act, both of which she described as “long overdue”.

Many healthcare issues were rooted in inequality, she said, and cited figures from the charity Mind that “black people are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white people, and more than 11 times more likely to be the subject of a community treatment order. People living in areas of high deprivation are more than 3.5 times more likely to be detained than those living in least deprived areas.”

Tackling inequality in the system could not be achieved without the involvement of faith groups. “Faith observance is highest in the most deprived areas. This means that faith leaders have the potential to provide vital insight and access to those communities least likely to access preventive healthcare. Faith leaders are trusted in their communities and are valuable partners for improving the health of their community.

“Ensuring that culturally competent services are available to everyone who requires them is vital if this Government are to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy. I hope that this Government will build on the work already undertaken in this area.”

The Bishop also urged the Government to expand the scope of the national curriculum to “promote key life skills, such as making financial education a component of PSHE at key stages 1 and 2, as recommended by many financial literacy charities”.

Speaking about the “disappointing” lack of mention of social care in the King’s Speech, she said: “The Government acknowledge that the sector is in need of deep reform. We have an ageing population that has more acute and complex needs. People with care and support needs are often unsupported in navigating the system. There are higher costs for councils at a time of restricted budgets. Unpaid carers provide care for their loved ones, sometimes at the expense of their own health, well-being and work.”

She continued: “We need a long-term funding settlement for local authorities and a workforce plan for the sector. I fear that without these measures we will not achieve the positive vision of social care, because social care is never an end in itself, but is a means by which we can live lives of joy, fulfilment and purpose and contribute to the economic recovery of this country.”

This related to palliative care, which she also regretted was absent from the Speech. “Reliance on charitable donations means that end-of-life care and provision varies depending on how affluent an area is. The cost of care is not being met, and services are being reduced. In the middle of a growing conversation about alternative options at the end of life, it is imperative that we properly fund palliative care.”

Later in the five-hour debate, the focus turned to technology. The Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, urged the Government to “hold together” the developments in AI “with deep insights into our humanity”.

He continued: “We must equip our young people to be masters of technology, not slaves to algorithms — able to put the science to good use but not allow its creations to distort our humanity or society. The deep ethical questions raised by the sciences will run across every part of this Government’s legislative programme.”

This included work and technology, opportunity and data risks, and the well-being of children and vulnerable adults.

The Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, looked forward to the progress of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill and the work of the newly announced Child Poverty Unit. Echoing Bishop Mullally, he asked how faith communities might be involved.

The current system of supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities had, he said, “created a shortage of school places in specialist schools” and “insufficient resources are provided in mainstream schools to offer support for children’s needs”.

Responding to the debate on behalf of the Government, Baroness Merron said that the points about social care were well made, “that after decades of neglect, these challenges are significant and urgent. We will work with the sector to build consensus on the longer-term reforms needed to create a sustainable national care service. We will make a start by delivering a long-overdue new deal for care workers, ending the constant churn in social care and recruitment challenges.”

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