The UA joins forces to call on the government to provide immediate support to alleviate the cost-of-living impact on people most affected.
The cost-of-living crisis is taking an even greater toll on people with health conditions or disability. So the Urostomy Association has joined forces with scores of other charities calling on the government to provide an immediate support package to alleviate the impact on people most affected.
We are proud to have added our name to the letter from National Voices – the leading coalition of health and social care charities in England – to Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt. The letter highlights the unavoidable additional costs faced by people living with health conditions, from prescriptions and treatments to transport to appointments and higher insurance premiums.
Sent ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, the letter also highlights the toll rising prices are taking on people already experiencing health inequalities, such as those living in the most deprived areas of the country or from the most marginalised groups.
National Voices has outlined the following measures it believes will stem rising demand on the NHS and help ensure people stay healthy in this economic squeeze.
- Introducing free prescriptions for all in England, as in Scotland and Wales
- Guaranteeing an NHS dentist for all
- Providing more support with the cost of hospital parking, transport to and from hospital, and overnight accommodation for patients and their carers
- Extending statutory sick time periods to support people off work for longer due to long NHS waiting lists
- Reimbursing energy costs associated with increased use of domestic appliances and heating where this is directly linked to the management of health conditions.