The Health Foundation responds to letter to Chancellor from Chair of Health Committee

Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and Economics at the Health Foundation, said:

'Dr Sarah Wollaston MP's letter to the Chancellor summarises the current situation well. The 2015 spending review increased NHS funding by just over £4 billion in real terms - that's about half the amount the health service said was required in the NHS Five Year Forward View. This means that in 2020 we will be spending the same per person on the NHS as we spent in 2010, despite an ageing population and new technologies and treatments.

'Since the Forward View, pressures on the service have continued to mount - most notably as a consequence of relentless social care cuts, with local government funding for social care falling by an average of 2.2% a year in real terms between 2009/10 and 2014/15. As a result more and more vulnerable older people are stuck in hospital as the care they need to go home safely is unavailable. And as the Select Committee highlights, the Department of Health has confirmed that for the third year running the NHS capital budget, which should fund maintenance and new investment, will be raided to meet day to day running costs. This is a sticking plaster solution.

'With rising inflation following the decision to leave the EU, pressures on the health service and its workforce whose pay is capped will only rise. The Autumn Statement is an opportunity for the government to take immediate action to support social care. But for the health service pressure is building, and building fast. With funding growth set to slow sharply from 2018, it's hard to see how the range and quality of services for patients will be sustained.'