£8billion for NHS’s key priorities

THE NHS and social care will receive up to £8billion extra a year to tackle bed-blocking and the Covid backlog.

Jeremy Hunt said he had been assured by the NHS boss that the money will allow the health service to deliver its ‘key priorities’.

The NHS will get an extra £3.3billion in each of the next two years, while social care will receive an additional £2.8billion next year and £4.7billion the following year.

Inflation is pushing up health service costs and 13,500 hospital beds are filled with medically fit patients who are waiting for care home places and home help.

NHS England had forecast a £7billion shortfall in its funding next year, which it said it was unable to plug with efficiency measures alone. Current funding settlements mean the NHS is already set to receive £152billion in 2022/23, £157 billion the following year and £162billion in 2024/25.

NHS boss Amanda Pritchard said: ‘We welcome the Chancellor’s decision to prioritise the NHS with funding to address rising cost pressures and help staff deliver the best possible care for patients.

‘While I am under no illusions that NHS staff face very testing times ahead, particularly over winter, this settlement should provide sufficient funding for the NHS to fulfil its key priorities.’ Richard Murray, chief executive of The King’s Fund health think-tank, said the funding ‘indicates the government’s recognition of the perilous state of the sector’.