Responding to announcements in the spring statement by the
Chancellor today, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers,
Saffron Cordery said:
“Today’s statement rightly focuses on Ukraine and the soaring
cost of living crisis facing the nation with notable changes to
fuel duty rates and the national insurance threshold.
“As collective employers of 1.4 million people, trust leaders are
keenly aware of the spiralling costs their workforce is facing in
their day to day lives.
“They are particularly worried about the impact on their younger
and lower-paid staff who are likely to be hardest hit and who
will need further financial support.
“Announcements today, including changes to the national insurance
contributions threshold, will help mitigate against the rising
cost of living.
“For example, we know that increasing fuel prices have had a real
impact on key NHS staff, including community health teams. These
staff travel thousands of miles every year to see patients in
their own homes, often covering long distances in rural areas.
While the 5p cut per litre is welcome, we are keen to see that
they are better reimbursed for the petrol they buy through both
mileage rate reimbursements and business tax relief.
"The chancellor was clear today about the strain on public
finances and trust leaders are acutely aware of this. They know
they have a clear duty and obligation to maximise taxpayer value
because of the extra investment being made in the NHS, including
the rise in national insurance contributions.
“Trusts are working hard to find efficiencies, reduce costs, and
identify savings in the NHS given pressures on public spending
and the extra investment in the health service given in the
October Spending Review, which the Health and Care Levy will
contribute to.
“While the national insurance has been increased in the spring
statement, trust leaders will be reassured that the NHS budget
over the Spending Review period has not been reduced by a
corresponding amount.
“Trusts remain concerned though about the scale of savings they
will be expected to make given the significant operational
pressures they are now facing.
“The need to tackle care backlogs while meeting rising demand for
services, against a backdrop of ongoing pressures from COVID-19,
widespread workforce shortages and staff burnout are all taking
their toll on the health service.
“These pressures won’t go away anytime soon.
“The impact of inflationary pressures including energy and fuel
costs will make their savings requirement even more stretching.
“Trusts will do all they can to realise the savings required but
we need to be aware of how challenging the task is likely to be.
“We’re still awaiting an announcement on Health Education
England’s NHS education and training budget for 2022/23.
“Workforce shortages and the resulting unsustainable workload on
existing NHS staff is the biggest problem facing the NHS right
now. They can only be tackled with a robust long term workforce
plan and increased longer term investment in workforce expansion,
education and training, none of which is currently in place.
