What does this year’s Autumn Statement mean for people with Parkinson’s?

We’re pleased that following campaigning from charities including Parkinson’s UK, the chancellor has confirmed that benefits and pensions will rise in line with inflation. 

We also welcome plans to target additional support with energy bills and the announcements around the health and social care sector.

Health and social care announcements

We are delighted the chancellor has heard our call for an NHS workforce plan in England. He announced the government will produce a workforce plan that will be independently verified. This plan will set out the numbers of doctors, nurses and other health professionals needed in England in 5, 10 and 15 years time. 

This is a key aim of our Can’t Wait campaign. And it is crucial that we know how the UK government plans to consult people with Parkinson’s on what is needed, and when the NHS workforce plan for England will be published. 

We welcome the chancellor’s announcement to increase the NHS budget in England by £3.3bn per year for the next 2 years. 

However, we’re disappointed that the planned cap on social care costs, which sets an overall limit on how much one person can pay for their care, is to be delayed by 2 years. 

Local authorities will benefit from reallocated funding to help them meet demands for care. But we know this delay to the introduction of the cap will cause concern to people with Parkinson’s and carers who still face huge care costs. 

We will keep the pressure up on when the UK government will consult on and share their workforce plan for the NHS in England. 

Sam Freeman Carney, Health Policy and Improvement Lead at Parkinson’s UK said:

"We welcome the chancellor’s announcement of a long term NHS workforce plan. People with Parkinson’s are crying out for access to vital services they need to live well. We’re calling for public consultation on the plan and a clear timetable for its introduction. People with Parkinson’s can’t wait any longer. The UK government must act now to avoid a bad situation from getting worse."

Cost of living and welfare announcements

The chancellor has confirmed that next April, benefits and pension payments from the government will increase by 10.1%. This is good news, as is the commitment to provide cost of living payments worth up to £900 to those on means-tested benefits, such as universal credit and pension credit. 

We’re also pleased to see the pension triple lock protected. The triple lock is a guarantee that, each year, the state pension will rise by the highest of 3 measures: average earnings, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), or 2.5%. 

The UK government has also said it will make one-off payments of £300 to pensioner households and £150 for people on disability benefit, to help with fuel costs.

Yet our research shows that, this year, people with Parkinson’s will pay an extra £1,196 on heating costs needed to manage their symptoms. This means that people with Parkinson’s who received the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment, are already out of pocket by over £1,000 a year.

And from next April, when the unit cost of energy will increase again as a result of the revised energy price cap, people with Parkinson’s will face another steep rise.

Sue Christoforou, Senior Policy and Campaigns Adviser at Parkinson’s UK said: 

"It’s a simple fact that people living with Parkinson’s have higher energy costs than the average household. Last year that amounted to around £600 extra but with the spiralling costs, this has now almost doubled to just under £1,200. It means that the penalty of having Parkinson’s will only continue to grow.

"The new Cost of Living Payments announced today are welcome but in reality they barely cover the increase in an ‘average’ household, much less in one where base living costs are higher due to something entirely out of their control - a Parkinson’s diagnosis. We urge the UK government to take further action. The reality is that unless people with Parkinson’s receive the full support they need to live well, they could well find their symptoms worsening."

Take action 

Please support our campaign to increase the NHS workforce in England by writing to the health secretary to let him know why access to the right professionals at the right time is important to you and other people with Parkinson’s. Find out more about our Can't Wait campaign.

If you’d like to get involved in influencing politicians and decision makers to make sure they better reflect the needs of people with Parkinson’s, please join our Campaigns Network or become a Campaigns Volunteer.