Pledges for the NHS in the government's Budget today (30 October)
include:
- £22.6billion increase in day-to-day health budget this year
and next
- £3.1billion increase in capital budget this year and next
- £1billion to tackle RAAC and repairs backlog
- £1.5billion of funding for new surgical hubs and diagnostic
scanners
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, NHS Providers, said:
“Long-term financial stability is essential for the ‘next
generation' NHS, for top-quality care and greater productivity.
“Today's budget provides a welcome boost for NHS trust leaders
and their teams who are working flat out to improve services,
reduce waiting lists and see patients as quickly as possible. The
government has recognised the importance of the NHS to the health
of the nation and the economy.
“Trust leaders will continue to strive to make the most of every
pound going into the NHS while doing everything they can to
provide safe, high-quality care.
“But after years of underinvestment and severe staff shortages,
we agree with ministers that we must be realistic about the speed
of progress. Today's economic challenges in the face of rising
demand across hospital, mental health, community and ambulance
services mean services, having to find unprecedented savings, are
in a very tough position.
“Almost £14billion is needed to plug a rocketing backlog of NHS
repairs. Vital bits of the NHS are literally falling apart,
putting quality of care and sometimes the safety of patients and
staff at risk. We welcome the government's commitment to
prioritise increasing capital investment across the NHS.
“Trusts in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) continue to wait for
clarity on the funding and delivery timeline for their new
buildings. The maintenance backlog in trusts with NHP schemes is
nearly £5.7billion – more than 40 per cent of the total.
“To make the NHS more sustainable, innovative and as productive
as possible requires long-term, cross-government support to
nurture a thriving workforce plus capital investment in buildings
and facilities - including digital technology which can transform
patient care and free staff from time-consuming admin.
“The devil is often in the detail and it will be critical to
ensure that welcome funding increases fall where they are needed,
including to bring down waits for mental health and community
services and to improve ambulance performance.
“Social care needs urgent attention too. That can can't be kicked
down the road any longer. An underfunded, overstretched social
care sector needs urgent reform and more resources not just to
give people the care they need but to help to ease mounting
pressure across the NHS.
“The government's promised 10-year plan for the NHS, with a shift
to more community-based healthcare and prevention of ill-health,
is a chance to get to grips with the challenges facing health and
social care so that trusts can make improvements faster and give
people the right care in the right place at the right time.”
