The prime minister is expected to breach election promises and raise National Insurance by about 1.25% to cover the costs, a decision that has received a huge backlash from within his Conservative Party too, reports Asian Lite News desk
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will pledge to end “catastrophic costs” for social care users in England, when he sets out reform proposals for the sector today, it was reported.
Johnson is all set to announce the plans to MPs, alongside long-term funding arrangements to help the NHS respond to the Covid pandemic, the BBC reported.
The prime minister is expected to breach election promises and raise National Insurance by about 1.25% to cover the costs. Besides opposition anger, the decision has received a huge backlash from within his Conservative Party too.
They said this is the wrong way to raise the money. The party made a manifesto commitment not to raise National Insurance (NI), income tax or VAT during the 2019 general election.
Johnson will present his plans to the cabinet today morning, before setting out the details in a statement to the Commons.
Meanwhile, the government has announced an extra £5.4bn over the next six months to support the NHS in England’s response to COVID-19 and help tackle waiting lists.
According to BBC, Johnson will tell MPs the NHS has been “put under enormous strain by the pandemic” and cannot be expected “to recover alone”. He is expected to say the government will not “duck the tough decisions needed” to help the service and fix England’s “broken” social care system.
The prime minister will also promise to “end the injustice of catastrophic costs” for those requiring long-term care. However, reports he will raise National Insurance, a tax paid by workers and employers, to cover costs has sparked a backlash from Conservatives, BBC reported.
“The NHS was there for us during the pandemic – but treating Covid patients has created huge backlogs,” Johnson said. “This funding will go straight to the frontline, to provide more patients with the treatments they need but aren’t getting quickly enough.”
“We will continue to make sure our NHS has what it needs to bust the Covid backlogs and help the health service build back better from the worst pandemic in a century,” he added.
The government said it has been clear that the NHS will get what it needs to recover its usual services and deliver quality care to patients.
It said the waiting list for routine operations and treatments such as hip replacements and eye cataract surgery could potentially increase to as high as 13 million.
£478 million of this new funding has been dedicated to continue the hospital discharge programme so staff can ensure patients leave hospital as quickly and as safely as possible, with the right community or at-home support.
Government said this will free up thousands of extra beds and staff time to help the NHS recover services. Another £500 million has been also invested in capital funding for extra theatre capacity and productivity-boosting technology, to increase the number of surgeries able to take place.
Monday’s announcement is in addition to the £3 billion announced at Spending Review 2020 to support the NHS.
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