If it has managed to stay within its budget, this will only be as a result of one-off accountancy manoeuvres and an emergency bailout from the Treasury earlier this year.
Sally Gainsbury, Senior Policy Analyst, Nuffield Trust
Commenting ahead of the expected publication today of the Department of Health’s annual report and accounts, Sally Gainsbury, Senior Policy Analyst at the Nuffield Trust health think-tank, said:
“There has been constant speculation that the Department of Health’s accounts will show it has exceeded its annual Expenditure Limit of £115 billion. If it has managed to stay within its budget, this will only be as a result of one-off accountancy manoeuvres and an emergency bailout from the Treasury earlier this year. Whether it has stuck to its budget or not, this shouldn’t disguise the enormous financial pressure the Health Service is currently struggling with – our analysis shows that NHS hospitals and other health care providers ended the financial year to March with an underlying deficit of £3.7 billion, rather than the £2.5 billion official figures showed.
“We have calculated that in order to balance the NHS’s books, hospitals will have to cut their costs by four per cent for the next two years, at the same time as controlling the rising number of patients. That would be extremely difficult to achieve at any time, but with poor staff morale, cuts to public health and the stripping back of social care, it may prove impossible.
“To cap it all, many people believe that there’s about to be a big financial dividend for the NHS as a result of our leaving the EU. The new Government needs to address this situation with the urgency it requires. They must be ready with a Plan B if the gap in the finances cannot be closed, or we will increasingly see patients having to wait longer for treatment and services being cut back.”