NHS Confederation responds to NHS Providers report on capital funding and productivity

Responding to a new NHS Providers report on capital funding and NHS productivity, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“More than a decade of being starved of capital investment has left the NHS estate in a dilapidated condition, with health service staff often having to work in crumbling buildings and use old or outdated equipment. This can put patient safety at risk and hamper productivity.

“We support the recommendations of this report to tilt spending toward capital investment and to give foundation trusts the freedom to recycle under-utilised capital assets to reinvest in modern estate and equipment. We have also been calling on the government to allow private capital investment into more parts of the NHS – including the acute sector – in order to build new facilities.

“However, it is also important that capital investment continues to flow into primary and community care as part of achieving the government’s ambitions to move care closer to people’s homes and provide more preventative interventions.”