By Zephaniah Samuels                                           24/05/10

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has set up  a new independent commission will be established to advise the Government on the future funding of long-term care ahead of the chancellor announcement to slash £6 billion of public funding.

George Osburne expected to announce his decision to axe hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs but the Department of Health appears to have been granted a stay of execution with the new health secretary has giving the go ahead for the establishment of an independent commission. Tasked at reforming the health and social care system, the commission will look at the funding of long term care.  
Health campaigners are hoping that these moves will cut back on the beaucracy that can be used to stifle a service users attempts to exercising their rights over the way they are treated once they come in contact with the system.

‘We will cut bureaucracy and hand back power to clinicians and patients to ensure they are at the forefront of decision making about NHS services. The proposals will drive up standards of care, eliminate waste and lead to better outcomes that improve the health of the nation,' Andrew Lansley MP, Secretary of State for Health said.

Findings from the latest Count Me In Census shows that detention rates under the Mental Health Act of people from Britain's African Caribbean communities are now at an all time high, even though black people from this group do not have higher rates of mental illness than any other ethnic group.  The unequal treatment and care has led to stark differences in outcomes with many black patients who then become reliant on long-term care, inflating an already overstreched NHS budget.

Track record speaking out against injustice

With Lansley's strong track record for speaking out against racism during his time in the shadow cabinet ,  health campaigners are hoping to see his  commitment to combating injustice continue now that the Tories are in power.

Any recommendations decision made by this new commission will directly impact on the way people from this group are treated.
Health experts from the community have pointed to the need to ensure that the concerns of this group are taken into account by this new commission: This will  ensure that any new system will be more equitable, but also lead to savings on  unnecessary costs.

Research by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health entitled, ‘The Cost of Race Inequality, ' shows that disproportionate numbers of black people detained in psychiatric settings is costing the NHS £100million in London alone.

This is in stark contrast to the cost of running black led community based services, which have been proven to be trusted by these communities and can be run at a fraction of the cost of statutory services.

This new commission has been tasked with looking at breaking down barriers to health and social care funding in order to incentivise preventative action, and extend the roll out of personal budgets go older, disabled people and give them more control over purchasing power. 

While experts welcome this move they point to the need to for more public education within minority communities in order for people from this group to take full advantage of proposals to give carers and disabled people more control and purchasing power.

Urgent reform of social care

‘Urgent reform of the social care system is at the top of our agenda. The current system is unsustainable - it cannot go on as it is. Our first step to reform is to establish an independent commission.

The Commission on Long Term Care will be tasked with delivering a sustainable settlement, which is a fair partnership between the state and the individual.  We'll set out further details and the terms of reference soon.' Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said.

These latest plans come at the Government has also announced that it will be scrapping plans set out in the Personal Care Home Act 2010 and considering plans for supporting re-enablement and carers breaks.

Although it appears likely that  entire Governments departments will be forced to shut down it has also been reported that funding from the military  and the NHS will be ringfenced for 2010.