As the UK general election approaches, a leading healthcare think tank has declared that none of the three main parties has yet proposed convincing plans for improving the NHS. The Health Foundation has stated that, according to current projected spending, there is a £38bn-per-year shortfall in England alone, which would be needed by the end of the next parliament. The Foundation claims that this would jeopardise NHS commitments such as reducing the backlog of treatments, increasing GP care standard, and rehabilitating hospitals.
None of the main political parties, including Labour and the Conservatives, have specified how much they will invest in the NHS as yet, with the Liberal Democrats’ pledge falling well short of the sum required as determined by the Foundation. Anita Charlesworth, a health economist from the organisation, commented: “The health service is in crisis and all the main political parties have said they want to fix it, yet the funding they have so far promised falls well short of the level needed to make improvements. Politicians need to be honest with the public about the scale of the challenge the NHS faces and the reality that an NHS fit for the future needs long-term sustainable investment.”
Basing its analysis purely on the pledges of the three main parties, the Foundation’s estimate is not overly ambitious but rather reflects public expectations. It calls for an extra 3.8% on top of inflation each year, in addition to productivity gains, for them to be delivered by the NHS through improvements to hospital infrastructure, community care provision, and decreases in the backlog of treatment. If this figure were to be achieved, it would represent an increase of £46bn yearly by 2029-2030. However, the Foundation’s report indicates that, on current projections, NHS funding will only increase by 0.8% a year above inflation during the same period.
The Department of Health and Social Care’s budget, which covers both the NHS in England and some other health spending commitments, is nearing £190bn for 2019/20. This year, the majority of this will go to NHS England, with nearly £30bn spent on training, buildings maintenance, and public health. Health is a devolved issue, meaning that the respective governments of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland will decide at their own discretion the amount of funding they will invest in the NHS within the money that is available to them for public spending
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