Jeremy Hunt's NHS Confederation speech - Response from Independent Age, older people's charity

“We welcome the Secretary of State's intention to rate Clinical Commissioning Groups on the services they deliver to people over 70, as one of the 7 key measures against which CCGs will be measured. Older people are the single largest users of the NHS and it’s vital that their needs are recognised within the system. We also welcome Jeremy Hunt's promise that the upcoming Spending Review 'will reflect the importance' of social care to the NHS. ‎It is clear that funding for social care has been deeply cut in the last five years, despite the increasing demand from an ageing population. While integration of health and social care, as Mr Hunt said, is vital, it will not in itself resolve the funding crisis in social care.”