NHS spending growth slows

pharmafile | October 12, 2007 | News story | |   

The government will increase its health budget by £20 billion over the next three years, but the current record levels of investment will not continue.

The last five years have seen unprecedented annual increases of 7.5% in health spending and now, as expected, that growth will slow down, although not as drastically as some feared.

Chancellor Alistair Darling's Comprehensive Spending Review will increase the health budget by 4% year-on-year until 2010/11, bringing public and private spending to about 9.4% of GDP  close to the European average.

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The increase is less than the 4.4% recommended by Sir Derek Wanless in his 2002 review of future NHS funding, but independent health think tank the King's Fund said the slowdown had been planned for and shouldn't damage patient care.

Chief executive Niall Dickson said: "Reducing the annual real growth from what it has been over the past seven years will feel like a cut. However, in a fiscally tight spending review, the NHS has done well compared with other departments.

"In many ways, the NHS is in good shape to deal with lower growth in funding – it has more money, more staff, reduced waiting times, increasing patient satisfaction rates and no overall deficits."

The Comprehensive Spending Review settlement includes funding for the package of measures Lord Darzi announced last week in his interim review of the NHS, including 150 walk-in centres open seven days a week and 100 new GP practices.

 

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