Now the NHS wants another £350m to avoid ‘winter crisis’
SUMMER is barely over, but NHS campaigners are already demanding extra cash to cope with what they fear will be a disastrous winter.
NHS Providers, a trade association which represents hospital trusts, yesterday called for an emergency cash injection of up to £350million to help the health service get through the winter.
Its chief executive, Chris Hopson, said the NHS is facing its worst winter in recent history if it does not receive an immediate cash boost. And he said patients would be put at risk and waiting lists would soar unless action was taken.
Mr Hopson said: ‘Last winter the health service came under pressure as never before. At its height, the NHS had to provide 4,500 additional beds a day – equivalent to more than eight extra hospitals.
‘Patient safety was compromised as local services struggled to cope with the pressures. At times, in some places, the NHS was overwhelmed.
‘We must act now to prevent the situation becoming even worse this winter.’
He added: ‘ The overwhelming view of NHS trusts is that without immediate extra funding they will not have sufficient capacity to manage this winter safely.
‘The only way to mitigate these risks is through an urgent NHS cash injection to ensure the NHS has the necessary capacity this winter.’ The NHS, which has an annual budget of £110billion, was in 2015 promised an extra £8billion by 2020, a sum which later increased to £10billion.
Last year, 2016/ 17, the NHS received a ‘kick- start’ – an extra £3.8billion, equivalent to 3.7 per cent increase. This year the NHS will receive an extra 1.3 per cent, and in 2018/19 only 0.4 per cent. Yesterday’s demand comes after long-term accusations that health chiefs waste taxpayers’ cash.
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘The NHS has prepared for winter more this year than ever before.’
But, according to NHS Providers, the latest figures show A&E waits and bed shortages remain ‘stubbornly’ bad.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which also represents health organisations, said: ‘As [this report] makes clear, NHS trusts are likely to struggle this winter. The truth is that the whole system, including those who commission care, as well as those who provide both health and care services are facing very difficult choices.’
Officials said the NHS is fully prepared and hospitals have put an extra 3,000 beds in place.
Pauline Philip, NHS England’s national director for urgent and emergency care, said: ‘The NHS will face challenges this winter but, as NHS Providers have stated, winter planning is more advanced than it was last year and special attention is being paid to areas where pressures are likely to
‘Facing very difficult choices’
be greatest. We are in the process of assessing how many extra beds trusts are planning to open over winter and early returns indicate that this will be more than 3,000. This is something we will continue to review on the basis of evidence rather than arbitrary estimates.’
She said the Government had put £1billion into extra social care, to tackle bed blocking and get people out of hospital quickly.
‘If the expectations for reduced delayed transfers of care [bed blocking] outlined by the Government are achieved, this would free up a further 2,000-3,000 beds over the winter period,’ she added.