Last Updated on October 5, 2022

The Prime Minister, Liz Truss, spoke of ‘growing the economy’, ‘keeping taxes low’, a ‘better future’, and ‘bolstering social care’ at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham today.

In the speech, the PM said that she is ‘determined to get Britain moving, to get us through the tempest and put us on a stronger footing as a nation’. With regards to the mounting energy crisis, Liz Truss told delegates that the Government took ‘immediate action’ to support businesses this winter and is ‘determined to support people from astronomically high bills.’ In fact, the PM said the UK is ‘doing more than any other country in Europe to protect people from the energy crisis’.

The PM also stated that the Government ‘has your back’ and Liz Truss said, ‘I’m not interested in just talking about things – but doing them.’ Social care organisations will be waiting to see this action, after long-awaited reforms.

The people of Britain were at the heart of the PM’s speech, with Liz Truss seeking to answer people’s ‘hopes and fears’, for example, whether people will be able to get a doctor’s appointment or whether they can get a job locally. Citing her early life growing up in Leeds, the PM told us how she fought to get jobs, to get pay rises and to get on the housing ladder and said, ‘I want to live in a country where hard work is rewarded.’

Three priorities were set out by the PM on the economy: Growth, Growth and Growth. Businesses creating more jobs, higher wages and putting more money into people’s pockets were all mentioned.

The Government announced that the increase in national insurance will be reversed from next month and the Government will be cutting the basic rate of income tax. We also heard that the Government will be ‘fiscally responsible’.

Deputy Prime Minister and Health and Social Care Secretary, Therese Coffey, sat on the front row along with fellow Cabinet members. Nearing the end of the speech, we heard of health and care plans, with social care the very last point in a list focused on plans for the NHS. The PM told the Conference that ‘Our fantastic Deputy PM and Health Secretary will…

• Deliver for patients so they can expect a GP appointment within two weeks.
• Ensure that those who need urgent care will be seen on the same day.
• Get ambulances out there faster to help improve A&E.
• Bust the COVID-19 backlog.
• Bolster social care, so everyone gets the care they need.’

In September, the Government announced that it’s launching a £500m Adult Social Care Discharge Fund, as part of the Department of Health and Social Care’s ‘Our Plan for Patients.’ The Government said this first step will ‘inform further action from next year to rebalance funding across health and care, to establish a strong and sustainable social care sector with greater accountability for use of taxpayers’.

Funding of £15m this year has also been promised for the international recruitment of care workers. The DHSC said the funding will enable local areas to support care providers with activities such as visa processing, accommodation and pastoral support for international recruits. This will complement a national domestic recruitment campaign, which the Government is said to launch shortly.

The Health and Social Care Secretary previously acknowledged the scale of the challenges facing the NHS in the wake of the pandemic and the plan for patients builds on the NHS Winter Plan, including the rollout of COVID-19 boosters and flu jabs already underway to help protect the most vulnerable. The plan sets out actions for patients under each of the Health Secretary’s A, B, C and D priority areas – ambulances, backlogs, care and doctors and dentists.

A decision has yet to be made by the Government on whether welfare payments will be increased in line with soaring inflation.

Today, the Director of Age UK, Caroline Abrahams, responded to The Times’ report that the retirement age will be set to 67 years old and said on Twitter, ‘Raising the State Pension Age to 67 before the scheduled date of 2028, as suggested in The Times today, would be totally unacceptable. At least a decade’s notice is needed for any SPA change, which fundamentally affects people’s lives.’

In other news, two-thirds (63%) of nurses and healthcare workers say they are having to choose between food and fuel to combat rising energy bills, according to a new study.