NHS gets an extra £29billion a year but waiting list targets may STILL be missed, health chiefs say
The NHS is unlikely to hit waiting time targets despite getting an extra £29billion a year in the Spending Review, health chiefs said last night.
Economists described the real-terms rise as ‘substantial’, with the health service budget now equal to the entire annual income of Portugal.
But patients were yesterday told to brace for cuts to services, with much of the extra cash set to be swallowed up by inflation-busting pay rises and higher drugs costs.
Rachel Reeves told the Commons she is making a ‘record cash investment’ in the NHS, worth an extra 3 per cent a year in real terms.
The Chancellor insisted this would lead to ‘more appointments, more doctors and more scanners’ as Labour seeks to deliver on its manifesto promise to get the NHS ‘back on its feet’.
But the settlement received a lukewarm response from NHS bosses, who said they would need even more money if the Government is to achieve its aim of treating 92 per cent of patients within 18 weeks of a GP referral by the end of this Parliament.
Matthew Taylor, of the NHS Confederation, which represents health organisations, said: ‘Difficult decisions will still need to be made as this additional £29billion won’t be enough to cover increasing costs of new treatments, with staff pay likely to account for a large proportion of it.
Rachel Reeves told the Commons she is making a ‘record cash investment’ in the NHS, worth an extra 3 per cent a year in real terms
Economists described the real-terms rise as ‘substantial’, with the health service budget now equal to the entire annual income of Portugal. Pictured: Reeves during a visit to St Thomas’ Hospital on June 11
‘On its own, this won’t guarantee that waiting time targets are met.’
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, told the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester that the health service has done ‘really well relative to other parts of the public service’.
But he added: ‘We all know it’s never enough because of the scale of advancement, all the ambition, the day-to-day cost pressures… but I think everyone’s starting to accept and understand we’ve got what the country can afford to give us.
‘We really need to get better value for that money – it is broadly the equivalent of the GDP of Portugal, so it’s a huge amount.’
Government documents accompanying the Spending Review show that, on average, from 2023/24 to 2028/29, the NHS in England will receive 3 per cent real-terms growth in day-to-day spending, equivalent to a £29billion increase in annual budgets.
The figures suggest Department of Health and Social Care spending will rise 2.8 per cent – less than the average 3.6 per cent seen in recent years.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the NHS was the ‘biggest winner’ in the Spending Review and described the Department of Health as a ‘behemoth’.
But patients were yesterday told to brace for cuts to services, with much of the extra cash set to be swallowed up by inflation-busting pay rises and higher drugs costs. Pictured: Wes Streeting and Rachel Reeves meet staff in the outpatients department at Thomas’ Hospital
But he added: ‘Even here, one has to wonder whether this will be enough. Aiming to get back to meeting the NHS 18-week target for hospital waiting times within this Parliament is enormously ambitious – an NHS funding settlement below the long-run average might not measure up.’
Sarah Woolnough, of health think-tank the King’s Fund, said: ‘It is hard to see how all the things she [Ms Reeves] mentions – faster ambulance times, more GP appointments and adequate mental health services and more – can be met on this settlement alone.
‘Particularly when large parts of this funding will be absorbed by existing rising costs, such as the higher cost of medicines… and staff pay deals.’
However, she said the upcoming ten-year plan could lead to better, more efficient NHS services.
According to spending review documents, the Government expects the NHS to deliver 2 per cent productivity growth each year, ‘unlocking £17 billion savings over three years’ to reinvest and improve patient care.
Sally Gainsbury, at the Nuffield Trust health think-tank, said: ‘Compared to settlements for other departments… the NHS deal looks generous.
‘But seen in the context of all the promises made by the Government – to drive down waiting lists, shift care closer to home, rapidly improve tech – and the commitments to meet staff pay demands and rising costs of drugs, today’s settlement soon melts away.
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England (pictured), told the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester that the health service has done ‘really well relative to other parts of the public service’
‘With capital funding staying flat in real terms for the rest of the spending review period, it will be difficult for the NHS to invest in the technology and facility upgrades it needs to meet the Government’s ambitious productivity targets.’
The Government said it will also invest up to £10 billion in NHS technology and digital transformation by 2028/29, plus £6 billion to speed up tests and treatments.
Scanners, ambulances and urgent treatment centres are among things the additional cash – part of the overall £29 billion – will pay for, with the aim of providing up to 4 million more tests and procedures in the next five years.
NHS England figures show 7.42 million treatments were waiting to be done at the end of March, relating to 6.25 million patients – up from 7.4 million and 6.24 million respectively at the end of February.
