Health leaders are warning that NHS services and jobs in England will have to be cut unless up to \u00a33bn more in funding is allocated to cover unexpected costs.<\/p>\n
The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, representing trusts and other health organisations, said in a joint statement that the cost of covering redundancies and strikes, along with paying more for medicines, was not included in the budget this year and will need extra cash from the Chancellor.<\/p>\n
Talks between the Department of Health and the Treasury are ongoing, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed.<\/p>\n
Responding to the statement, the Department of Health said the government was committed to \u00ab\u00a0properly funding\u00a0\u00bb the NHS.<\/p>\n
Cuts to NHS services and jobs could mean fewer tests, appointments and operations being carried out.<\/p>\n
Senior managers say that demands from the government for significant job cuts in regional health boards and NHS trusts have been made without any promise of extra funding to cover at least \u00a31bn of redundancy payments.<\/p>\n
The merger of NHS England and the Department of Health will also involve staff reductions which have to be paid for.<\/p>\n
The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers say that the doctors’ strike in England in July led to \u00a3300m of costs for NHS trusts, including covering rota gaps. The cost is likely to be the same again during the next planned strike in November, they claim.<\/p>\n
They go on to argue that a likely deal with the United States over higher medicine prices could cost the NHS around \u00a31.5bn.<\/p>\n
The US administration and major pharmaceutical companies have been pushing the UK government to raise the amount paid for drugs.<\/p>\n
The drug companies argue that investment in UK research and development of new medicines could be cut if a deal is not agreed.<\/p>\n
Health leaders have also warned that progress on reducing waiting lists will be affected if there is no Treasury help in making up the financial shortfall.<\/p>\n
Some argue that uncertainty over redundancy plans is distracting staff and managers from the task of turning round the NHS.<\/p>\n
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: \u00ab\u00a0The threat from un-budgeted redundancy payments, higher drug prices and renewed industrial action risks derailing progress on key waiting time targets and the wider reforms that are essential to getting the NHS back on track.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: \u00ab\u00a0Redundancies cost money, making it harder to make long-term savings without government support.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0As the government prepares its Budget it’s time for an honest assessment and discussion about what the NHS can really achieve this year in these challenging financial circumstances – and about what is ‘doable\u00a0\u00bb to meet ministers’ ambitions in their 10-year plan for health.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
A Department for Health and Social care spokesperson said: \u00ab\u00a0This government has delivered a record-breaking \u00a329 billion investment in our NHS \u2013 including up to \u00a310 billion on digital and technology transformation and \u00a3750 million for urgent capital repairs \u2013 demonstrating our unwavering commitment to properly funding the health service that we all rely on.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0However investment alone isn’t enough – it must go hand in hand with reform. That is why we’re doing things differently: not just fixing the NHS but moving it forward through our Plan for Change\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Health leaders are warning that NHS services and jobs in England will have to be cut unless up to \u00a33bn more in funding is allocated to cover unexpected costs. The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, representing trusts and other health organisations, said in a joint statement that the cost of covering redundancies and strikes, along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}