Social care crisis ‘could swallow £20bn for NHS’

AN extra £20billion pledged for the health service under Theresa May’s tenyear plan could be wasted because of the existing state of NHS finances, the spending watchdog has warned.

The National Audit Office said the crisis in social care, record levels of staff shortages and growing waiting lists also risked thwarting the pledge.

The long-term settlement was unveiled last week with promises to make the NHS a world leader at fighting killer diseases such as cancer, and improve maternity and mental health services.

However, the report on NHS finances says major issues need to be addressed.

It warned that the ten-year plan does not cover key areas of health spending.

Because it applies to the budget for NHS England and not to the Department of Health and Social Care’s entire budget, the watchdog argued, funding for areas such as doctor and nurse training and public health are not addressed.

The report said: ‘Spending in these areas could affect the NHS’s ability to deliver the priorities of the long-term plan, especially if funding for these areas reduces.

‘In addition, without a long-term funding settlement for social care, local NHS bodies are concerned that it will be very difficult to make the NHS sustainable.’

Record staff shortages mean difficulty recruiting and retaining staff ‘presents a real risk’ that some of the extra funding will go on expensive agency staff, the report warned. It added that reducing waiting lists to 2012 levels is likely to cost an extra £700million.