PCT funding to set to rise
pharmafile | December 11, 2008 | News story | |Â Â NHS, primaryÂ
NHS Primary Care Trusts are to receive funding worth £164 billion in the financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11.
This includes an average increase of 5.5% over both years and the government says funding will rise to an average of £1,612 per person by 2010-11 compared to £426 in 1996-97.
More than 80% of the total NHS budget is now allocated directly to PCTs, allowing them to tailor health services to local needs in line with Lord Darzi's review.
But although investment in the NHS has trebled in the past 11 years, health secretary Alan Johnson warned: "During these tougher economic times the NHS, along with the rest of the public sector, will have to make its contribution to delivering greater efficiency."
Next year's priorities
Also this week, the NHS announced its operating framework setting out its priorities – although no new national targets – for 2009-10.
These include improving cleanliness, greater access to GP services, better care for cancer, stroke and children's health and pandemic preparation.
"The priorities we set last year were what mattered most to staff, patients and the public, and they remain the same this year," said NHS chief executive David Nicholson.
Following on from Darzi's emphasis on the importance of quality, patient satisfaction remains the final arbiter of success for the NHS.
The Department of Health says the money allocated to PCTs is based on "a new, more technically robust formula". There is a separate formula to target areas with the worst health outcomes.
The idea is that efficiency savings will be delivered by enabling local services to be led by clinicians and based on the needs of patients and communities.
The NHS says it has already met several of its commitments. These include:
* 18-week referral-to-treatment target met nationally five months early in September
* Halving MRSA infections from the 2003-04 baseline and reducing C. difficile infections by 35% year on year
* More than 50% of GP practices offering extended opening hours, three months ahead of target
* £7.9 billion of efficiency savings in 2007-08 against a target of £6.5 billion
It also estimates that reducing infection in hospitals has saved the NHS £75 million in the last year.
Nicholson said: "Given the current economic challenges, it is more important than ever that we focus these resources on securing high quality care for all, because better care means better value."
Related Content
A community-first future: which pathways will get us there?
In the final Gateway to Local Adoption article of 2025, Visions4Health caught up with Julian …
The Pharma Files: with Dr Ewen Cameron, Chief Executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Pharmafile chats with Dr Ewen Cameron, Chief Executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, about …
Is this an Oppenheimer moment for the life sciences industry?
By Sabina Syed, Managing Director at Visions4Health In the history of science, few initiatives demonstrate …
