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Simon Stevens’ response to the HM Treasury’s announcement of additional funding for the NHS

Responding to HM Treasury’s announcement of additional funding for the NHS, Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England said:

“Last month the NHS itself came together to chart a new direction for health in this country. Our NHS Forward View unleashed an amazingly wide consensus – amongst patient groups, local communities, frontline staff and NHS leaders. People now get the fact that a growing and aging population means we’re going to have to supercharge our work on prevention, on care integration, and on treatment innovation.”

“But we also told it as it is:  services are under pressure. We know times are tight, but the economy is now growing. Sustaining a high quality health service in the years ahead will therefore require both challenging new efficiencies and genuine new investment.”

“That’s the case I’ve been making on behalf of the NHS to government, and today they’ve listened and responded with the funding we need for next year to sustain frontline NHS services and kick-start transformation. Of course there will still be pressures and difficult choices, but the government has played its part and the NHS will step up and play our part too. Today represents an extremely welcome vote-of-confidence in the NHS’ own five year plan.”

5 comments

  1. DR B.PChoudhary says:

    I welcome the additional focus on funding and additional attention for the improvement of NH’s primary care – as we see too many changes- and too frequent system changes is almost destroying the NHS primary care – We all should focus on primary care investment and support the personnel who are directly caring for the patients – so please invest in clinical manpower and you will notice improvement in services straightway

  2. D Mukasa says:

    NHS funding is far too focused on acute provision, where only a minority of the population finds itself. We all pay into the NHS and the majority should be targeted with prevention services – to avoid hospital admission in the first place.

    Winter pressure on acute beds is evidence, it is a symptom of lack of investment in primary care (GP services), community services (district nurses, health visitors), social services to support the elderly with home care so they do not deteriorate and end up in A&E. The Polyclinics and Walk in Centres were very much part of the solution – can we have them back please?

  3. Cllr Stephen West says:

    I welcome this additional funding to the NHS.

    However, the increase in our population is putting a huge strain on NHS services and this is being exacerbated by the fact that there are still too many foreign national abusing the NHS. This is the NATIONAL Health Service and not the INTERNATIONAL Health Service!

    As well as filling up the pot, I hope also that the government will now urgently plug the hole at the bottom by getting net migration under control.

  4. Dr Phil Yates says:

    The investment into primary care is very welcome. Although it won’t meet all the requirements for root and branch reform together with the need to boost community premises for a much larger community-delivered, it will make a significant start.

    It’s good to see the aspiration of the 5YFV being supported by the pump-priming monies that have been made available.

  5. Dr Abdul Jaleel says:

    Good news all round but you couldn’t help a little constitutional change as the next step in this direction please Mr, Stevens : let us have a General Election every year please .