Responding to the Prime Minister’s comments on NHS funding today, Nuffield Trust Chief Executive Nigel Edwards said:
“Theresa May’s remarks on the need to develop a long-term plan to increase NHS spending are very welcome and long overdue.
“As our analysis has shown, the NHS faces a huge underlying financial gap that is set to grow every year unless we can move beyond the current system of one-off bungs and bailouts. So the Prime Minister’s comments today signal a much-needed move away from this approach.
“But we should be under no illusions: any funding increases for the NHS are very likely to have strings attached. So it will be important to ensure that anything the NHS is asked to do in exchange for additional funds is appropriate and achievable.
“The real test of this proposal will be in whether the sums of money the government put in are big enough to put the NHS on a genuinely sustainable footing, and whether it includes a workable solution to the equally pressing funding crisis facing social care. Without these, we may end up back at square one in a few years’ time.”