According to a recent analysis, funding for the NHS is expected to be significantly reduced, marking the largest decrease in value since the 1970s. This adds to the mounting pressure for Jeremy Hunt to prioritize funding for public services instead of implementing tax cuts in the budget.
The Guardian has discovered that the chancellor intends to impose stricter measures to reduce the NHS’s yearly expense of £4.6bn for temporary staff who fill in for deficits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS), health expenditures in England are expected to decrease by 1.2% in the upcoming fiscal year, which amounts to £2bn. This decrease comes despite the NHS facing additional expenses from ongoing strikes over pay and the growth of its workforce.
The NHS will receive a large portion of the health budget, which is projected to decrease from £168.2bn in 2023-24 to £166.2bn in 2024-25, adjusted for inflation in 2022-23 values.
The thinktank cautioned that if the government does not reconsider its decision to reduce funding, the NHS will be left with no choice but to decrease the number of employees, staff salaries, and services offered to patients.
The intervention by Hunt coincides with his deliberation on slashing billions more from his budget for public spending, in order to fund additional decreases in income tax or national insurance in the upcoming budget for this week.
“Economists have determined that this action would result in a reduction of up to 20% in budgets for specific government departments, referred to as “unprotected”, during the five-year parliamentary term. These departments include justice, home affairs, and local government.”
On Monday evening, there were also indications that the chancellor plans to provide drivers an additional £5 billion through an extension of the current “temporary” decrease of 5p per liter in fuel taxes for another year.
The planned amount of spending by the public sector in the upcoming parliament may lead to reductions similar to those made by David Cameron’s administration between 2010 and 2015 as part of austerity measures. This has sparked concerns that the next government may struggle to carry out these cuts and may have to resort to increasing taxes or borrowing more money to fund emergency expenses.
The proposed reduction of the NHS budget was deemed “outrageous” by the Liberal Democrats. Medical professionals cautioned that it would have detrimental effects on patients. Furthermore, hospital administrators expressed concerns over their ability to manage if the plan is put into action, citing the financial strain of estimated costs of 15 months of strikes that have left them in a precarious position.
Sarah Olney, spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats on Treasury matters, expressed her outrage over the actions of the Conservative government towards our National Health Service. She denounced their woeful lack of financial support for health services, and the unfortunate consequences that patients are forced to endure as a result of their neglect.
She pressed Hunt to call off the intended reduction in the budget that he will present to Members of Parliament on Wednesday.
At the same time, medical professionals at hospitals expressed concern that the NHS is constantly facing a crisis and is unable to keep up with the increasing need for healthcare services. Pushing through with the proposed reduced funding could have fatal consequences and negatively affect patients.
According to Dr Tim Cooksley, the previous leader of the Society for Acute Medicine, the potential decrease in funding could have a devastating effect on both healthcare professionals and patients.
It is widely agreed upon that the state of the NHS is currently facing unprecedented challenges. While funding is not the only factor, it is a crucial component of the solution. Any decrease in funding at this point could have serious consequences.
According to David Phillips, an associate director at the IFS who conducted the study, the current plans for government spending would result in a decrease of approximately 1.2% in day-to-day spending for the NHS in 2024/25. This would mark the biggest reduction since the 1970s, with the exception of the past two years when temporary funding related to the Covid-19 crisis was in effect.
Cutting health spending in actual value would involve a combination of cutting staff, salaries, and services.
Phillips revealed that an additional £4.4bn of funds from the Treasury was urgently provided to the Department of Health and Social Care in the current fiscal year to prevent exceeding budget limits for both the department and the NHS. This information was not publicly shared by the DSHC.
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The National Health Service (NHS) is estimated to have received approximately £4 billion of the total £4.4 billion allocated for staff salary increases, expenses related to industrial action, initiatives to assist with the challenges of winter, and their share of the health surcharge paid by migrants or their employers for NHS services.
The initial allocation for DHSC’s 2023-24 budget was planned to be £164.2 billion. However, it increased to £168.2 billion after ministers provided an additional £4 billion, referred to as a “in-year bung” by health economists, to prevent a deficit.
The department was and remains due to be handed a budget of £166.2bn for 2024-25. However, the £4.4bn top-up received this year meant that, as a result, next year’s budget was on course to be £2bn less than this one, prompting the IfS’s intervention, Phillips explained.
“The numbers are concerning for trust executives who are currently facing difficulties in delivering quality care within a difficult financial climate.”
The NHS has incurred a significant expense of lost income and covering for striking employees due to a 15-month long strike. This is caused by postponed surgeries, scans, and procedures.
“Concerns arise over the possibility of ongoing strikes in the upcoming financial year. Trust leaders are rightfully anxious about the potential increase in costs. As the NHS budget is strained by industrial action, it is crucial for the Treasury to fully cover the strike expenses for trusts.”
Hunt is expected to reveal measures to tighten control on the funds the NHS allocates to employment agencies. This amount totals to £4.6 billion in the UK and £3.5 billion in England, which was identified through a Treasury assessment of efficiency in the public sector. The plan is to establish a limit on the overall amount that the NHS can allocate to these agencies.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, labelled the chancellor “hypocrite Hunt” because the DHSC last year raised the annual cap for such spending by £450m. Streeting also pointed out that in 2015, when Hunt was the health secretary, he announced a similar crackdown on agencies which charged “extortionate hourly rates which cost billions of pounds a year”.
Streeting stated that the burden of 14 years of Conservative shortcomings has been placed on taxpayers.
The Conservative party declined to provide the necessary training for doctors and nurses in our National Health Service, resulting in the reliance on overpriced recruitment agencies. Additionally, they instigated the biggest strike in NHS history, causing longer wait times for patients and placing a burden on taxpayers to cover the costs.
“Expecting hypocrite Hunt to fix the mess he’s made is like expecting the arsonist to put out the fire they’ve started – it’s not going to happen.”
The DHSC was asked for its reply.
Source: theguardian.com
