Winter NHS Crises Are Predictable—Why Isn’t the Government Prepared?

Winter NHS Crises Are Predictable—Why Isn’t the Government Prepared?

This January - like most Januaries - there is a lot in the news about the ‘winter crisis’ in our hospitals. Indeed with rates of flu and other viruses soaring, last Friday our local hospital trust announced extra measures in our hospitals to slow the spread of infections with patients and visitors now being offered masks to wear. What’s frustrating about this annual ‘crisis’ is its predictability. If you know something is going to happen every year, then surely a properly resourced health service would be able to plan for it, and minimise the worst impacts of it. 

Since the New Year, the Labour government has made a series of announcements aimed at rescuing the NHS and Social Care. Here in Mid Sussex so many of us are acutely aware of what those challenges are, whether it’s waiting weeks for a GP appointment, hours in A&E, or months for essential scans and surgeries, the system is under immense pressure. 

One part of this plan is to enhance the NHS App. This is a welcome move—technology can make healthcare more accessible and flexible. But we must ensure no one is left behind. Not everyone has access to digital tools or is able to use smart phones and the internet, and the British Medical Association has rightly warned against deepening inequalities in healthcare access.

The Health Secretary’s recent announcement of reforms to Social Care is another critical piece of the puzzle. The government has confirmed that their proposals for a National Care Service in England are unlikely to be delivered before 2028 at the earliest. Cross party talks and an independent commission will begin work in April, with its first stage identifying critical issues by mid-2026 and the final report completed by 2028.

This announcement is long overdue. We welcome cross-party talks to build a consensus to fix our broken social care system, but we can’t afford to wait three more years for a new plan. I’m really worried that what’s been announced looks like an excuse to kick the can down the road for another decade. That would be unforgivable for both the care of our elderly and disabled and our NHS. The Liberal Democrats would like to see this review done and dusted within a year at the most. Then we can finally move on with implementing much-needed reforms after too many years of inaction. Of course, I and my Lib Dem colleagues will engage constructively in any talks, but we will press the government to move far more swiftly and decisively, and to make sure the voices of unpaid family carers are not lost in this process as they have been too often in the past.

Our NHS deserves better than quick fixes. We need a long-term strategy that tackles problems at both the front and back doors of the system. Only then can we ensure everyone in Mid Sussex—and across the country—gets the care they deserve.