Health Foundation responds to Prime Minister’s long-term funding pledge for NHS

Responding to the Prime Minister's long-term funding pledge for the NHS, Anita Charlesworth, director of research and economics at the Health Foundation, said:

‘The prime minister’s commitment to long-term stable funding for the NHS is welcome. The current short-term boom and bust approach to funding is hugely detrimental to efforts to increase productivity, secure quality and meet the growing needs of an ageing population. But the devil will be in the detail - most critically how much extra funding will be promised and will it cover both the NHS and social care. Evidence shows the health and care system will need increases of over 4% a year above inflation to be sustainable, yet spending will have increased by just 1.2% a year in real terms over this decade, the lowest of any decade since the NHS was founded.

‘Providing more for health and care at the expense of other public services, many of which impact on people’s health, would be a false economy. The level of funding growth the NHS and care system need cannot be found within current government spending plans and the UK still has a deficit. While the funding commitment is laudible, long-term funding growth for the NHS and care system at the level needed will almost certainly require a commitment to increase tax.’

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Peter Stilwell, Senior External Affairs Manager

Peter.stilwell@health.org.uk

020 7664 4647