Insufficient capital settlement will impact on health services

NHS leaders responding to an NHS Confederation survey have warned that an insufficient capital settlement will impact on health services.

Ahead of the government’s comprehensive spending review later this month, nine in 10 NHS leaders responding to an NHS Confederation survey warn that an insufficient capital settlement will impact on their ability to meet safety requirements for patients across acute, ambulance, community, mental health and primary care.

They say the NHS’ capital budget needs to increase from £8.5 billion now to £10.3 billion in 2024/25 if the NHS is to make urgent and vital upgrades to ageing buildings or change the use of often ageing buildings, transport fleet or computers and telephone systems. Respondents also warned that bureaucratic hoops meant significant delays in having their capital plans approved.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation said: "The NHS welcomed the government’s recent extra investment in the day-to-day running costs of the health service. Given the strain on the wider public finances, we know it was not a given and that the money will need to be spent wisely.

"But to help ensure the extra funding is put to best use, we need to address the glaring holes in the capital budget which have left the NHS with run-down buildings, a major maintenance backlog and limited potential for maximising the use of digital technology. Unless the government addresses this shortfall in the comprehensive spending review later this month, the risk is that patient safety will be compromised and that the NHS will be held back in its attempts to reduce waiting lists.

"Capital investment drives productivity improvements and will enable the NHS to increase capacity, more easily separate out the treatment of Covid and non-Covid patients, to diagnose patients more quickly and to bring down waiting times. It’s the missing piece of the funding jigsaw that the government now needs to address.

"The amount of capital funding needs to increase but we also need to see much faster access to the capital funding that is available. Too often capital funding bids are subject to long delays before final decisions are reached. As we approach a hugely challenging winter and with a record backlog of care to deal with, we must provide much quicker access to capital funding to enable NHS leaders and their teams to make the necessary changes that are needed to their buildings and infrastructure."