£30bn cut for DHSC buried in Budget announcement

Labour has accused the government of failing patients after the Chancellor buried a £30 billion cut to day to day spending in the Department of Health and Social Care, as waiting lists hit a record high.

Sir Keir Starmer said that Budget documents revealed a planned cut in day to day spending in the Department of Health and Social Care of £30.1 billion from April this year.

The revelation comes as new analysis published by the Labour Party reveals that the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment has increased by over 500 per cent over the last decade.

Labour also claims that: almost a quarter of a million people are waiting more than a year for treatment; an estimated 4.59 million people are currently on the waiting list for treatment – the highest ever number on record; the number of people waiting more than 18 weeks before the pandemic hit had spiralled over the previous nine years, to over 720,000 in December 2019; and that only 68 per cent of patients on the waiting list have been waiting 18 weeks or less – the statutory target for 92 per cent of patients to receive treatment within 18 weeks of referral has not been met since 2016.

NHS England spending will fall from £147.7 billion this year to £139.1 billion from next despite the ongoing costs to the NHS from Covid and the huge backlog of cases and waiting lists that have built up during the crisis.

Jonathan Ashworth, Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “The Chancellor is failing patients, our NHS and its staff by cutting frontline services during a pandemic. With lists already at a record high, this will mean patients waiting even longer in pain for vital treatment. Yesterday’s Budget papered over the cracks rather than rebuilding the foundations of our country.”