Health and Social Care
24 December 2018
The Department of Health and Social Care's budget, its management and the implications for patients and frontline services are of long-standing concern to the Public Accounts Committee.
You will find publications relating to the Committee's work on Health and Social Care on this page.
Short term and one-off measures have been used to balance the Department's budget and this is unsustainable.
The Committee's 2018 report on the Sustainability and Transformation in the NHS noted that while NHS England, clinical commissioning groups and trusts reported a combined surplus of £111 million against their income in 2016–17, this was only achieved by a cash injection from the Department's £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund.
There has also been a reliance on the transfer of capital funds to revenue spending to cover day-to-day costs such as maintaining buildings, facilities and equipment. The NHS already has a shortage of capital funds, needing an additional £10 billion by 2020–21.
In March 2018 the Prime Minister told the Liaison Committee that Government would be setting out a “sustainable, long-term plan” for funding the NHS. This plan was launched on 7 January 2019.
Government has yet to commit to similar measures to support its stated ambition of joining up health and social care services. Questions remain over the funding that will be required to meet the demands of a growing and ageing population.
A more detailed overview of the Committee's work on health and social care is provided in the Chair's Third Annual Report here.
Publications relating to the Committee's work on Health and Social Care can be found below and will be updated over time.
Reports and Correspondence published in 2019
Inquiries and Reports
Inquiry: Clinical Commissioning Groups
Report: Clinical Commissioning Groups - Published 8 March
Inquiry: Mental health services for children and young people
Report: Mental health services for children and young people - Published 11 January
Reports and Correspondence published in 2018
Inquiries and Reports
Inquiry: Department of Health and Social Care accounts
Report: Department of Health and Social Care accounts - Published 19 December
Inquiry: Interface of health and adult social care
Report: Interface of health and adult social care - Published 19 October
Inquiry: Price increases for generic medications
Report: Price increases for generic medications - Published 12 October
Inquiry: NHS England's contract with Capita
Report: NHS England's contract with Capita - Published 25 July
Inquiry: Reducing emergency admissions
Report: Reducing emergency admissions - Published 8 June
Inquiry: Clinical correspondence handling in the NHS
Report: Clinical correspondence handing in the NHS - Published 6 June
Inquiry: The adult social care workforce in England
Report: The adult social care workforce in England - Published 9 May
Inquiry: Cyber-attack on the NHS
Report: Cyber-attack on the NHS - Published 18 April
Inquiry: Sustainability and transformation in the NHS
Report: Sustainability and transformation in the NHS - Published 27 March
Inquiry: NHS continuing healthcare funding
Report: NHS continuing healthcare funding - Published 1 March
Inquiry: Care Quality Commission: regulating health and social care
Report: Care Quality Commission: regulating health and social care - Published 23 May
Inquiry: NHS continuing healthcare funding
Report: NHS continuing healthcare funding - Published 17 January
Correspondence
Correspondence from Chair to Ian Trenholm, Care Quality Commission - 16.10.2018
Correspondence from Ian Dalton, NHS to Chair regarding NHS improvement - 09.10.2018
Correspondence from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on Interface between Health and Social Care - 06.08.2018Correspondence from Department of Health and Social Care on Interface between Health and Social Care - 06.08.2018
Correspondence with NHS Improvement relating to subsidiary companies in the NHS - 27.04.2018
Correspondence with NHS Improvement, relating to subsidiary companies in the NHS - 15.04.2018
Correspondence from NHS England regarding clinical correspondence handing - 22.04.2018
Correspondence with the Department for Health and Social Care relating to rebranding costs
Correspondence with the Department of Health and Social Care - 19.05.2018
Correspondence with the Department for Health and Social Care - 12.01.2018
Correspondence with NHS England
Reports and Correspondence published in 2017
Inquiries and Reports
Inquiry: Mental health in prisons
Report: Mental health in prisons - Published 13 December
Inquiry: NHS clinical correspondence handling
Report: NHS clinical correspondence handling - Published 29 November
Inquiry: Managing the costs of clinical negligence in hospital trusts
Report: Managing the costs of clinical negligence in hospital trusts - Published 1 December
Inquiry: NHS Ambulance services
Report: NHS Ambulance services - Published 27 April
Inquiry: Access to general practice: progress review
Report: Access to general practice: progress review - Published 27 April
Inquiry: Integrating health and social care
Report: Integrating health and social care - Published 27 April
Inquiry: Financial sustainability of the NHS
Report: Financial sustainability of the NHS - Published 27 February
Inquiry: NHS treatment for overseas visitors
Report: NHS treatment for overseas visitors - Published 1 February
Correspondence
Correspondence with Department of Health relating to NHS Shared Business Services
Correspondence with Personal Injury Claims Arbitration Service Ltd.
Correspondence with Department of Health
Correspondence from Learndirect relating to the NA0 Learndirect inquiry
Reports and Correspondence published in 2016
Inquiries and Reports
Inquiry: UnitingCare partnership contract
Report: UnitingCare partnership contract - Published 16 November
Inquiry: Improving access to mental health services
Improving access to mental health services - Published 21 September
Inquiry: Discharging older people from hospital
Report: Discharging older people from hospital - Published 22 July
Inquiry: NHS specialised services
Report: NHS specialised services - Published 15 June
Inquiry: Personal budgets in adults social care
Report: Personal budgets in adults social care - Published 8 June
Inquiry: Managing the supply of NHS clinical staff in England
Report: Managing the supply of NHS clinical staff in England - Published 11 May
Inquiry: Sustainability and financial performance of acute hospital trusts
Report: Sustainability and financial performance of acute hospital trusts - Published 15 March
Inquiry: Access to General Practice in England
Report: Access to General Practice in England - Published 9 March
Inquiry: Services to people with neurological conditions: progress review
Report: Services to people with neurological conditions: progress review - Published 26 February
Inquiry: Management of adult diabetes services in the NHS: progress review
Report: Management of adult diabetes services in the NHS: progress review - Published 22 January
Reports and Correspondence published in 2015
Inquiries and Reports
Inquiry: General Practice Extraction Service
Report: General Practice Extraction Service - Published 31 December