Former health secretaries and charities call for cross-party health and care review

A trio of former health secretaries and almost 40 charity organisations have called for a cross-party commission to review the future of the NHS and social care systems in England. Liberal Democrat MP Normal Lamb believes that without a full and impartial commission, the NHS and social care systems face "an existential crisis." Labour MP Alan Milburn and former Conservative MP Stephen Dorrell, now chairman of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts, have both backed Mr. Lamb's bid. Mr. Dorrell added that without appropriate intervention, he predicts the NHS' problems will "only get worse" within the next 10 years. Organisations such as Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie have also called for an Independent Royal Commission, warning that that there is "no room for complacency" in a written letter to Prime Minister David Cameron. Diabetes and the NHS In August 2015, a Diabetes UK report claimed that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes could bankrupt the NHS. There has been a 60 per cent rise in diabetes cases in the last 10 years - the majority of cases are type 2 - while the risk of long-term complications make diabetes an expensive condition to treat. The charity also identified that more people with diabetes should receive the necessary health checks recommended by the National Institute of Health Care and Excellence (NICE). Only a third of people with diabetes in the UK currently receive all eight checks; including weight, blood pressure and foot care, and their report highlighted that the burdensome cost of diabetes can largely be attributed to standards of care. Dr. Partha Khar, advisor to NHS Survival - a non-profit umbrella group that has called for an independent commission into NHS spending - told Diabetes.co.uk: "We are treating more and more complications rather than trying to prevent them. "The response from the government should be: 'Can we use all the money left in the pot left for diabetes care and know what we need to do? We know how we can improve care.' But this isn't happening." "The government cannot avoid this issue any longer" Mr. Lamb raised the prospect of a full, impartial commission in Parliament on Wednesday 6 January, and warned that immediate action is required to prevent the NHS from crashing. "The NHS and social care face an existential crisis," he said. "Demand for services continues to rise year on year but funding is failing to keep up. The position in social care is perhaps even more serious. "Growing pressures on services are so severe that all parties must come together to fundamentally re-think how we can guarantee the future of the NHS and social care services. "The Government cannot avoid this issue any longer. Establishing this commission will show they are serious about protecting these vital public services."

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