NHS budget puts patients at risk, NHS Providers warn

Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, has warned that patients in England will see rising waiting times, rationing and cuts in the number of staff if the NHS does not receive more funding.

Hopson has called for the five-year plan to increase the NHS budget by £8 billion a year by 2020 to be redrawn, and comes ahead of the Autumn Statement, due to take place on the 23 November.

In a statement, Hopson said: “There is now a clear gap between what the NHS is being asked to deliver and the funding available. NHS trusts are working flat out to develop new and better ways of delivering patient care, but they urgently need targeted extra investment in the areas of greatest need. Investing in general practice and social care, as well as stopping the raids on capital spending to ensure our hospitals and other buildings are fit for purpose, must be an urgent priority.

“This would help GPs and care services to ease the rising pressure on hospital, ambulance, community and mental health trusts, which in turn would improve the quality of care people receive. The NHS has shown that with the right support it can transform services and deliver efficiency savings, so we believe these measures would produce a strong and immediate return on investment for the Treasury.

“The investment must be accompanied by a rethink of plans for this parliament. Providers will do all they can to improve productivity, realise efficiencies and move to new ways of providing care. But over the next three years demand and cost will rise by at least four per cent a year whilst real terms health funding per head is flat or actually reduces. We therefore have to decide what the NHS should prioritise. The NHS simply cannot do all that it is currently doing and is being asked to do in future on these funding levels.”