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29.10.18

Your NHE 2018 Budget Round-Up

Philip Hammond has announced a number of mental health initiatives as part of £2bn funding, £650m for social care and money for air ambulances and mentally ill veterans in his Budget for 2018.

The chancellor confirmed that the NHS would receive £20bn from the government by 2023 to relieve pressures on the health service and instigate improvements, but elsewhere mental health was the biggest winner in Philip Hammond’s 2018 Budget.

A new 24/7 crisis hotline, more mental health crisis ambulances and children and young people’s crisis teams across the country were all announced as part of a £2bn increase in mental health funding.

Elsewhere, there was £10m to help fund air ambulances— and the chancellor promised £10m for the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust to support mentally ill veterans as the government marked the centenary of the Armistice.

There was also a £45m commitment for disabled facilities, and a total of £650m promised for social care across the UK.

But with £20bn increase in funding already promised for the NHS back in June, there were no more major announcements for the health industry in what was a positive Budget.

Hammond said: “We made our big choice for this Budget four months before it was delivered, and that was the right decision.”

"There are many pressing demands on additional NHS funding but few more pressing than the needs of those who suffer from mental illness," Hammond told the Commons.

With many saying that this funding will only serve to get the basics back on track, and NHS Confederation responded to the Budget by warning of “very tough” next few years and called social care the government’s “Achilles heel.”

Whilst the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group welcomed the disability grant and a commitment from the government to deliver the long-awaited Green paper for adult social care, it also criticised Hammond for a “short-sighted autumn budget” for missing an opportunity to make social care sustainable.

The chancellor also announced an end to PFI and PF2 deals for future projects, abolishing future PFI’s but honouring existing contracts.

Image credit - Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/PA Images

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