Visiting a Lincolnshire hospital today (August 5), the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson will confirm a £1.8 billion cash injection for the NHS. A £1bn boost to NHS capital spending will allow existing upgrade programmes to proceed and the most urgent infrastructure projects to be tackled. A further £850 million – spread over five years - will be allocated to 20 hospitals to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment. (More details of specific projects here).
In a statement released ahead of his visit Boris Johnson says: “The NHS is always there for us - free at the point of use for everyone in the country. With our doctors and nurses working tirelessly day in day out, this treasured institution truly showcases the very best of Britain. That’s why I made it my immediate task to make sure frontline services have the funding they need, to make a real difference to the lives of NHS staff, and above all, of patients.
“Today I’m delivering on this promise with a £1.8bn cash injection – meaning more beds, new wards, and extra life-saving equipment to ensure patients continue to receive world-class care. It’s time to face up to this challenge and make sure the NHS receives the funds it needs, to continue being the best healthcare service in the world.”
The £1.8bn funding is in addition to the extra £33.9bn, in cash terms, the NHS is set to receive every year by 2023/24 through the Long Term Plan agreed last year.
Chief Executive of NHS England Simon Stevens says: “This is a significant start to the much-needed capital investment so that our nurses, doctors and other NHS staff will be able to care for their patients in modern facilities with state-of-the-art equipment.
“The concrete steps being set out this week will mean investment flows directly to frontline services, providing new clinics and wards. As they come on line, as part of our NHS Long Term Plan, patients will benefit from reduced waits for treatment and wider upgrades to the quality of care the health service is able to offer.”
However, critics argue that whilst the new funding is welcome it is not enough. Backlog maintenance exceeds £6bn, with over £3bn of that rated as ‘high’ or ‘significant’, which makes £1.8bn appear as a ‘drop in the ocean.’
Chris Hopson, Chief Executive of NHS Providers, says frontline leaders will welcome the commitment to tackle two of the most urgent problems faced by the NHS – capital and pensions – “with pace and energy,” which, he says, has been missing previously. “Today’s announcement is a good start but, given how much lost ground needs to be made up, it is only a start.”
He adds: “Nine years of austerity and £4.3bn of capital funding diverted to keep day to day NHS spending in balance have created a £6bn maintenance backlog, £3bn of it safety critical. And that’s before what’s needed to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan, upgrade the NHS estate and harness new digital technologies.
“So whilst Trust leaders will welcome today’s extra new £1.8bn of capital investment, it can only be the first down payment on a consistent, longer term, approach to rebuilding the NHS and creating the 21st century infrastructure the NHS requires.
“Frontline NHS leaders will also look forward to co-designing the much needed new approach to managing and allocating NHS capital given how broken the current system is.”
Later this week, the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, will also set out further changes to the NHS pension scheme to support senior doctors and GPs taking on extra shifts.
