The NHS is set for a 4% budget increase next year to beat inflation, but health officials say waiting list cuts may not be allowed for another 18 months, the Guardian reported.
The health service is set to be one of the big winners in the spending review on October 30, if it gets the Treasury's proposed 4% increase in real terms. This could equate to a cash injection of around £7bn into the UK's health budget, while other sectors face even tougher financial results, with some having to cut capital spending by the end of the year. There is a high possibility that it will not.
Despite this, NHS chiefs have privately warned against the plan, undermining Labour's key pledges to cut huge medical backlogs and add millions of extra appointments. He says it may not be enough to make it happen. One Whitehall official said the government would simply allow waiting lists to “stand still” rather than proceed with reducing them.
Sources said that although there is a real 4% increase, it is expected that the increase in wages for NHS workers will make a significant dent. NHS bosses in England also believe the service will receive a 4% real funding increase (twice the rate of inflation) from 2025 to 2026.
Health and Human Services officials said discussions about the salary are still ongoing and the amount has not yet been determined. They declined to comment on the spending review.
A multi-billion pound hike to the NHS is likely to be welcomed by the Government as a significant step paving the way for the NHS service to be repaired after 14 years under the Conservative government. In the latest budget accounts under the previous government, the NHS rose by just 0.2% in real terms.
But one senior NHS official said: “The danger is that the Prime Minister presents this as an 'NHS budget' when in fact it is nothing close to that.” [to giving the service the money it needs]. The remaining 2%, taking into account salary agreements, may not be enough. ”
NHS chiefs added: “Four per cent is higher than anyone expected, and given the wide range of financial circumstances, we are not going to be publicly cavalier.''
The Treasury seeks to fill the fiscal black hole left by the Conservatives, delivering on Rachel Reeves's convention promise not to return to austerity while raising taxes to generate more money. must also be found.
The government also needed to find funding to resolve industrial action, such as the junior doctors' strike, but the Conservatives were unable to allocate enough money for this. Ministers have hoped that ending the strike will help the NHS return to normalcy and begin to reduce backlogs in treatment and care.
But Whitehall insiders said it was now clear that this was not enough to make any significant progress in clearing waiting lists.
DHSC officials said they did not believe ending industrial action was enough. “Part of this is due to increased funding, but we think that change could happen if there were significant reforms to campaigning, changes in the way we operate, and being able to do things more productively,” they said. said.
Think tanks such as the Health Foundation have made it clear to ministers that providing the NHS with less funding than the 3.8% annual funding it has been receiving risks undermining Labour's service ambitions. are. The Institute for Fiscal Studies expects a real increase of 3.6%, which it says will be enough to implement NHS staffing plans but may not be enough to cover all the promised improvements to health services.
One health policy expert said, “A real 4% increase is… [NHS budget rises in] recent past. But in terms of delivering on the manifesto promises, it is touch-and-go at best. [of 2m more appointments a year]”
Once Mr Reeves confirms the exact amount the NHS will receive next year, Health Secretary Wes Streeting will announce a detailed new plan setting out how hospitals will deliver the 40,000 extra weekly appointments they have promised. It's planned. Ministers recognize that polling shows that tackling long waiting times for treatment and getting the NHS working properly again is a top priority for the public.
Mr Reeves is also expected to use the budget to hand health trusts capital funds to spend on repairing the service's increasingly aging infrastructure and buying new equipment such as scanners. The NHS Confederation, which represents trusts, says additional health insurance is needed. £6.4bn a year To that end, we will be working on each for the next three years. NHS officials said talks with the Treasury about the funding increase were positive, with ministers saying the issue was positive given the increasing disruption to patient care from falling roofs, equipment failures and the risk of flooding and fire. It said it “understands” that the service will require additional funding. .
Mr Reeves nevertheless called for an emergency cash injection of between £1bn and £1.5bn ('in-year relief') for the NHS this financial year to tackle the backlog and alleviate Labor's crisis. They seem to be resisting the voices that demand it. The government is facing an “NHS winter crisis'' during its first few months in office.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, used an interview with the Health Service Journal this week to appeal for additional funding to help hospitals cope with the huge additional demands brought on by the colder months. . He told ministers that extra funding would be provided to private hospitals so they could treat more NHS patients waiting for planned treatment, rather than to support the service itself in what is expected to be a harsh winter. However, he said that voters would not understand.
“The problem is [that prospect] If there's a crisis in emergency care and we're not taking the opportunity to put a little more money into helping that crisis, that's a big decision,” said Taylor, the key advisor. In the 2000s, Tony Blair came in 10th place. It would be a “huge political choice” for ministers, he added.
An executive at one of the NHS's largest trusts said this week that hospitals were “expecting an incredibly tough winter”, HSJ reported. Hospitals are already under intense pressure, amid fears that a “triple outbreak” of influenza, coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus could overwhelm hospitals.
