The Liberal Democrats have urged the government to scrap a contentious drug deal with Donald Trump’s US, saying that the billions saved should be redirected into the nation’s social care system.
The agreement currently maintains tariff-free US imports of UK pharmaceuticals for three years.
In return, the NHS is required to raise its spending threshold on new medicines by 25 per cent.
However, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper criticised the arrangement, stating the money used to “pay off the bully in the White House” could have been allocated to fund social care instead.
The party has called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to personally lead cross-party discussions regarding the future of the social care system. This approach was announced 12 months ago, yet the Liberal Democrats noted that only one cross-party meeting has taken place as part of Baroness Casey’s independent commission on adult social care.
The government has played down reports the pharmaceuticals deal could cost the NHS an extra £3 billion a year in drug costs, with No 10 and Health Secretary Wes Streeting suggesting the figure would be around £1 billion by March 2029.
Ms Cooper said: “Keir Starmer has found billions of pounds to pay off the bully in the White House but has still not found the funds to fix social care.
“He needs to personally get a grip of this crisis, end this negligence and finally show whose side he’s on.
“A year on from the announcement of the commission into adult social care, families are still picking up the pieces of a broken social care system and the taxpayer is picking up the tab for patients unnecessarily stuck in hospital beds.”
In response to the Lib Dem attack, the Government repeated that the £3 billion claimed cost of the deal was incorrect and no money will be cut from frontline NHS services to fund the agreement.
A spokesperson said: “This deal is a vital investment that builds on the strength of our NHS and world leading life sciences sector to increase access to lifesaving medicines.
“After over a decade of damage to our NHS at the hands of both the Tories and the Lib Dems, we inherited shocking delays to hospital discharge and are working to turn this around.
“Thanks to our record investment, millions more appointments have been delivered, and NHS productivity is rising.
“As well as working with Baroness Casey to fix our social care crisis, the NHS is also working closely with local authority and social care colleagues, so that discharge capacity can surge at times of peak demand.
“We’ve issued clear guidance to support faster, safer hospital discharge, and we’re joining up NHS and social care through neighbourhood health teams so more people can get the care they need at home.”