Following chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget announcements yesterday, the government has further confirmed its plan of action for its extra billions.
The day-to-day health budget increase constitutes the largest boost of its kind since 2010 – excluding the Covid-19 years.
Government mantra
According to the government, the investment will be used to meet its manifesto commitment of delivering 40,000 more elective appointments every single week – this is an area which has seen £1.8bn of investment since the new government came into office.
For Labour, more appointments mean reduced waiting times: health secretary Wes Streeting has said that nobody should wait any longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment – another manifesto pledge.
Just a few days before the fully fledged budget was launched by Reeves, the treasury announced that £1.5bn of funding will be made available for surgical hubs to build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and more than 1.25 million extra diagnostic tests.
This was announced at the same time as a £70m fund for new radiotherapy machines to boost cancer treatment – one of Labour’s headline promises from the election was to double the amount of cancer scanners.
Autumn Budget 2024
As well as confirmations of the above, the government has said that more than £2bn will be spent on modernising NHS technology and making general digital improvements, all in a bid to increase productivity and save staff time.
A British Medical Association (BMA) report has previously put the amount of clinical time lost by doctors in England due to inadequate IT systems at more than 13.5 million hours a year.
The previous budget – launched in the spring by former chancellor Jeremy Hunt – also took a focus on NHS productivity, with the now-scrapped £4.2bn Public Sector Productivity Plan making the biggest headlines.
As part of the Autumn Budget, though, over £600m will be funnelled into local governments to support social care – an area that many leaders believe has been neglected for too long.
Another £26m, meanwhile, has been ringfenced for new mental health crisis centres – before laying out her budgetary decisions for the health sector, Reeves highlighted a number of statistics: one of which being that 350,000 people have been waiting a year for mental health services.
There will also be a dedicated capital fund to deliver around 200 upgrades to GP surgeries across England.
Finally, around £460m will be used to improve the country’s pandemic preparedness and overall defences against future health emergencies. This will include replenishing PPE, vaccines and medicines, as well as investing in infrastructure like high-containment labs.
Read more reaction to the budget here at https://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/
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