NHS chief goes to war with May over cash
THE head of the NHS went to war with Theresa May yesterday over funding for the health service and social care.
Simon Stevens accused the Prime Minister of ‘stretching’ the truth about how much the Government is spending on health.
The NHS England chief executive waved a copy of a Daily Mail article at MPs to illustrate how Britain spends less than other European countries on things like doctors and beds.
Mr Stevens said it was wrong for politicians to ‘pretend’ there was no funding crisis in the NHS. He also made a pointed jibe at No10 over social care.
It was claimed yesterday that the PM’s senior aides had accused Mr Stevens of being ‘insufficiently enthusiastic and responsive’. But the NHS chief told MPs he had been ‘running a little campaign’ against £5billion of cuts in funding for social care, continuing: ‘Enthusiastically I might add.’
The row centres on the Government’s pledge to give an extra £10billion into the NHS. Mrs May yesterday claimed this is more than NHS bosses had asked for when she came under pressure in the Commons. But in a select committee appearance just a few hours later, Mr Stevens said it was ‘stretching it’ to say the NHS got more money than it asked for.
He said: ‘It’s right that by 2020 NHS England will be getting an extra £10billion over the course of six years. I don’t think that’s the same as saying we are getting more than we asked for over five years because it was a five-year forward view, not a six-year forward view.’
The Daily Mail page he brandished at MPs featured an article from November about a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which found the UK has fewer hospital beds, doctors and cancer scanners per head of population than other EU countries.
Mr Stevens told MPs there were ‘very real pressures’ on the NHS, adding: ‘This is not because hospitals are being feckless. It doesn’t help anybody to pretend there aren’t finance gaps.’
He said the problem was ‘intensifying’, adding: ‘In 2018/19, in real terms, NHS spending is going to go down.’ The Department of Health’s permanent secretary, Chris Wormald, told MPs it was delivering the election pledge to give the NHS £10billion.
But Mr Stevens said it would be wrong to conflate figures.
Clare Marx, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, last night piled in behind Mr Stevens, saying he had spoken ‘truth to power’. She said: ‘It is clear we can’t go on fire-fighting and rapid support is needed while being clear about what the NHS and care services can or can’t provide. More money isn’t the only solution, but it is an important part of it.’
But Mrs May’s spokesman said Mr Stevens had welcomed spending plans when they were set out. She said: ‘At the time the NHS England chief executive said, “the settlement is a clear and highly welcome acceptance of our argument. Our case for the NHS has been heard and actively supported”.’
No 10 was later accused of editing the remarks. Mr Stevens’ full quote said he was happy with ‘frontloaded’ investment in the NHS – but had not got what he had wanted in the middle.
Earlier, during PMQs, Mrs May said the Government ‘acknowledges there are pressures’ on the NHS, but criticised the Red Cross for its ‘irresponsible and overblown’ claim that there was a ‘humanitarian crisis’.
Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May was ‘in denial’ about the state of the NHS. Labour ruled out holding a cross-party commission on the NHS, saying it would be an excuse for the Government to kick the issue into the long grass.