Department of Health and Social Care set for 2.8 per cent real terms annual rise over three-year spending review period

Commenting on reports that the Department of Health and Social Care’s day-to-day budget is set to increase by 2.8 per cent in real terms annually over the three-year spending review period, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“Health leaders recognise that all public services are under enormous pressure. The government committing to provide a greater proportion of funding to the NHS is going to be incredibly tough for services such as housing, education and welfare, particularly as they can affect people’s healthcare needs.

“In this challenging economic context, health leaders will welcome the prospect of a 2.8% boost. There will be concern, though, in an age of expensive new treatments and medicines and other high costs, that it may prove not to be enough, especially when staff pay accounts for around 40% of the budget and future pay deals are not yet known.

“The NHS is already ramping up efforts to improve its productivity and it has been tasked with achieving some of the most significant efficiency savings in decades. A funding settlement that is below the long-term historical average would make this challenge harder, but staff will do all they can to maintain high quality care and restore performance against key targets.

“Also, without additional capital investment, either traditional or through the private sector, we may find that combining recovery and reform may not be possible.”