10.10.13
£30bn NHS funding gap by 2021, Monitor warns
The NHS is facing a £30bn funding gap by 2021, the healthcare regulator has warned in a new report.
‘Closing the funding gap’ calls for “radical change” to secure the future of the health service and to achieve more for less.
The report calls for improvements to productivity within existing services, as well as increased care in the community, development of new and innovative ways of delivering care, making one-off reductions in capital expenditure, and changing the way health spending is allocated.
David Bennett, chief executive and chair of Monitor said: “Over the next eight years, the health sector faces its greatest financial challenge in recent times. We are all going to have to strain every sinew to meet it.
“While there are individual things the sector can do – like be more efficient in its procurement or introducing new ways of working in hospitals – what is required is a step-change. In short, the NHS must undergo radical change if it is to survive.
“Monitor, as the health sector regulator, will not only be supporting, but actively enabling changes that deliver better services for patients and reduce costs.”
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