Winter is historically a time of enormous pressure for health and social care. The COVID pandemic, a workforce stretched to breaking point, years of underfunding and a broken social care system have all compounded to create a level of pressure that threatens to push the NHS to crisis point this winter. Inevitably, those who will be impacted most by this situation are those who access health and social care services the most - older people.
The BGS has long since advocated for solutions to this worsening situation, the effects of which we believe could be lessened significantly with the correct system-wide planning, investment, innovation and political motivation.
Yet there are some immediate, practical steps that can be taken to help reduce the pressure this coming winter, and mitigate the potentially devastating consequences for older people living with frailty.
This #WinterPressures blog series serves to highlight some of the solutions that BGS members and their multidisciplinary colleagues are implementing to alleviate the worst of the current pressures, and deliver the best possible outcomes for older people as winter approaches. We hope you find inspiration in these blogs, and we encourage you to share them widely with colleagues, and on social media, using the hashtag #WinterPressures.
