Commenting on the Health Select Committee’s letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Appleby, Chief Economist at the Nuffield Trust said:
We have long held concerns that the Government’s description of the additional money given to the NHS as £10bn is misleading, when the real sum is less than half of this. The Committee states that efficiencies can – and should – be made within the NHS. But as they point out, the health service is different from other public services: closing hospitals when demand for health care is on the rise is not the same as closing prison cells when crime is falling.
John Appleby, Chief Economist, Nuffield Trust
“The Health Secretary himself has admitted that the NHS is facing one of the most difficult periods in its history, and social care is widely acknowledged to be on its knees. The committee’s letter to the Chancellor should therefore focus minds within the Treasury to step in to address this before it begins to seriously affect patient care.
“We have long held concerns that the Government’s description of the additional money given to the NHS as £10bn is misleading, when the real sum is less than half of this.
“The Committee states that efficiencies can – and should – be made within the NHS. But as they point out, the health service is different from other public services: closing hospitals when demand for health care is on the rise is not the same as closing prison cells when crime is falling.
“The MPs highlight the need to invest in buildings and infrastructure. This is undoubtedly the case, with the NHS’s capital budget repeatedly raided to absorb wider deficits. Yet years of underinvestment has left a serious backlog in the maintenance of NHS buildings and estates.”