03.12.12
Nuffield Trust warns of £44bn funding gap
The NHS could face a funding gap of up to £44bn in less than a decade’s time, a think tank has reported.
The Nuffield Trust has warned that this could lead to a two-tier health service if the NHS was unable to deliver savings over the next decade.
The NHS could be left with a funding gap of £44bn by 2021/22 without extra funding or “unprecedented productivity gains”, the report states. If the NHS continues to make savings until 2015, under the current budget, the shortfall will still be at least £28bn by 2021/22.
The ageing population is increasing pressure on the NHS, which could damage the health service’s ability to continue making productivity gains and deliver savings.
The report states: “For the NHS to grow in line with national income, and allowing all other public services to match this rate of increase, there would need to be cuts to welfare spending, or increases in taxation worth £44bn. This equates to an additional £1,400 for every family in the UK.”
The report's author, Anita Charlesworth, told the Guardian: “The danger is that if the funding is held down for a long period and the economy begins to pick up, we will see the emergence of private affluence and public squalor as people can pay to top up care.”
Health minister Lord Howe said: “If the NHS is to meet the needs of an ageing population we need it to be more efficient so it can provide more and better treatments. The NHS is well on its way to achieving this. This year alone it has admitted over half a million more planned patients.”
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