Spinal Injuries Association supports calls for NHS cash boost

Spinal Injuries Association is urging the Chancellor in the Autumn budget to recognise the essential role that the NHS has in helping people with a spinal cord injury to lead a fulfilled life. We join calls made yesterday by Simon Stevens and others for an immediate cash injection of £4 billion into the NHS and urge that the needs of spinal cord injured people should be prioritised when funding decisions are made.

Spinal cord injured people have seen a reduction in the number of specialist beds as well as long waiting lists for admission to specialist centres in a time when many SCI people are unable to access vital specialist care. Meanwhile, the rationing of NHS funded continuing healthcare is leading to unsafe care for many of the most severely disabled people. A long and fulfilled life after a spinal cord injury is, with the right care and support, perfectly possible yet this is being denied to too many people.

Sue Browning, Chief Executive of Spinal Injuries Association said:

“We support the call yesterday by Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of the NHS, as well as the Nuffield Trust, King’s Fund and Health Foundation, and by NHSP themselves for a further cash boost of £4 billion to support the NHS. Whether at the point of injury or diagnosis, during the rehabilitation journey or beyond, the NHS is critical to people living with an SCI. Thanks to the dedication and skill of NHS staff, great things can happen. With the right care and support, SCI people can lead independent and fulfilled lives. But there are wide variations in care and not everyone has access to the specialist support they need. We’re calling on the Chancellor to do the right thing on the 22^nd November and guarantee that the most severely disabled people should not have to continue to suffer the consequences of an underfunded health service.”