NHS future ‘precarious’, warns health watchdog

The NHS faces a “precarious” future and is “straining at the seams”, according to the latest annual report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The report, published this morning, raises concerns about staff shortages across the service, and rising demand from patients. The authors warn that the increasing number of “older people who are physically frail, many with dementia”, and of “people with long-term complex conditions”, is placing the system under “unprecedented pressure”.

Although the quality of NHS care had so far been maintained to acceptable standards, these standards are likely to drop in the future, says the health watchdog, adding that “many providers could and should do more”.

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According to the report, staff vacancy rates in the NHS had risen by 16% over the last two years, despite an increase in staff of 4%, and hospitals have been running with “occupancy levels being consistently above recommended levels since April 2012”.

Furthermore, the report says, the number of people not getting support for their social care needs has risen to 1.2 million in the past year - an 18% increase.

However, Health Minister Philip Dunne insisted that the extra money already promised for social care, mental health and A&E services was “enough”, reports the BBC. “With record funding and more doctors and nurses, the NHS was recently judged the best healthcare system in the world, despite the pressures from increasing demand,” Dunne said.