The leader of Plymouth City Council has issued a personal invitation to the new health secretary to visit Plymouth to discuss how the city is not getting its fair share of funding for residents.
Councillor Tudor Evans OBE has written to new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Victoria Atkins MP, to highlight the issues that the city faces and ask for greater support.
Plymouth has higher than average levels of deprivation and health inequalities and is among one of the top 20 per cent most deprived local authority areas in England, with two areas of the city falling within the most deprived 1 per cent.
However, as health funding is allocated by NHS Devon on a county-wide basis, poor health outcomes for residents are masked by overall Devon statistics. With many areas in Devon being more affluent, there is an averaging effect that hides the city’s problems. Even the Public Health Grant allocation, which is supposed to support work to tackle inequality, fails to reflect the city’s levels of deprivation and inequalities.
Councillor Evans said: “We work hard to ensure that residents receive the best possible health outcomes, and that our most vulnerable residents are supported. But we are constantly hindered by dwindling funding. Plymouth is not receiving its fair share and this has got to change.”
Plymouth lost a significant amount of funding when the governance of primary healthcare was overhauled, resulting in a £15 million under-allocation of ‘fair shares’ funding. So far only £5 million of this missing funding has been received, meaning the city remains under its target allocation by 1.8 per cent.
The city faces further problems with NHS dentistry, with nearly 22,000 residents currently on the waiting list for an NHS dentist. The problem is exacerbated by the inability or unwillingness of local high street dentists to provide NHS dental services, which means there is a large underspend of NHS funding. It was hoped that this year’s underspend, which is expected to be in excess of £1.5 million, would be ringfenced to be used on local dental initiatives, but the ringfence appears to have been removed.
The Council also has a cost pressure of £5 million in adult social care, with issues exacerbated by high levels of inflation, increased pay costs and high energy prices.
Councillor Evans continued: “We face many challenges, including a growing ageing population and an increasing number of adults with complex health needs. This puts pressure on our already overstretched health and social care services, and it is clearly unsustainable. We will continue to fight for the people of Plymouth and I have extended an invitation to Victoria Atkins to visit Plymouth and discuss the challenges we face, which I hope she will take us up on. The Government should not only be aware of the issues that we face, but also be prepared to take action.”