The Health Foundation responds to the publication of the Department of Health’s annual accounts and report

Anita Charlesworth, Chief Economist at the Health Foundation, said: “The NHS is struggling to contain rising costs and balance its books. The Department of Health’s annual accounts and report published today confirm that spending pressures in the health service are outpacing funding - business as usual was not affordable in the last financial year and it’s even less affordable this year. 

“In the last financial year alone spending on agency and temporary staff proved to be the financial Achilles heel of the health service - growing by over 27% in one year alone. The NHS also had to cut £640m of planned capital investment and receive an additional £250m from the Treasury to cover day-to-day running costs. NHS providers (hospitals, mental health trusts and community health services) had an underlying deficit of at least £1bn. 

“This was the result of spending pressure growing at a faster rate than their income. In addition, NHS bodies who commission care continued to spend more resources on non-NHS providers, meaning spending on care provided free at the point of use to NHS patients by private sector providers grew by almost £500m.   

“This is not sustainable - without rapid improvement and change the NHS will bust its budget. The annual report shows that a number of access targets have been missed in the last year. Clearly the system is already having trouble balancing demand pressures and constrained funding.

“The health service needs transformative change to improve its efficiency. This is why we, alongside the King’s Fund, are calling for a Transformation Fund, to deal with the urgent need for service change. This won’t happen by accident and ever tougher grip and pressure from Whitehall won’t deliver. What the NHS urgently needs is practical support and dedicated resources to make the changes that will unlock the efficiency opportunities that undoubtedly exist across the service.” 

ENDS

Media Contact:

Thais Portilho, Senior Public Affairs Manager

T: 020 7257 8027

M: 07584 995681

E: thais.portilho@health.org.uk