Thank you for contacting me about NHS funding, clearly an issue close to all our hearts as we continue to tackle the outbreak of coronavirus in our country.
I am proud to support a Government that is providing historic investment in health and our NHS, and is committed to funding our health and public services properly. Following the 2021 Spending Review, NHS England’s day-to-day budget is set to grow by 3.8 per cent on average up to 2024/25, supporting the NHS to tackle the elective backlog, deliver its Long Term Plan and ensure it has the resources needed to fight COVID-19. Spending on health services will increase from £133 billion at the start of this Parliament, to over £177 billion by the end: an increase of over £44 billion. Despite difficult financial circumstances, NHS investment has increased every year since 2010.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented challenge and had a profound impact on the NHS. In addition to more than £97 billion allocated for the COVID-19 response across health and social care up to September 2021, I know that the Government is absolutely committed to supporting the NHS recovery from COVID-19. Over £8 billion will be spent up to 2024/25 to support the delivery of around nine million more checks, scans and procedures. It will also mean the NHS can aim to deliver around 30 per cent more elective activity by 2024-25 than before the pandemic.
It is crucial that checks and balances are put in place to ensure money for the NHS is spent prudently. The public rightly expects every penny of funding that goes to the NHS to be spent well, which is an expectation I share. In particular I expect new money raised by the Heath and Care Levy to be spent on cutting waiting times and finally fixing the care crisis. It is welcome that the NHS is already working to be more efficient and cut waste and has pledged to make savings while still boosting productivity by at least 1.1 per cent a year. I can assure you that, as your Member of Parliament, I will continue to work to ensure any taxpayer money given to the NHS is spent where it is needed most.
I wholeheartedly support the Government's commitment to building a bigger, better trained NHS workforce. Hundreds of millions of pounds of additional funding will be provided over the next four years, underpinning the training of undergraduate intakes of medical students and nurses and supporting new midwives and allied health professionals.
I also welcome the reaffirming of the Government’s commitment to recruiting 50,000 more nurses, 6,000 new GPs, and 6,000 more primary care professionals in addition to the 7,500 further nurse associates and 20,000 primary care professionals announced previously. These commitments are vital to ensuring our NHS is fit for the long term and I know that progress is already being made in this area.
I agree that it is important to ensure that all people who work in the NHS are valued and respected regardless of the role they play. That is why I am pleased that the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care have published an NHS People Plan, designed to ensure that the NHS workforce is well supported and offered clear and fulfilling career and development goals.
It is clear that we need the NHS more than ever, and I believe the Government has taken the appropriate steps to ensure that it not only survives the current health crisis, but can also look forward to a healthy and viable future.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Craig Whittaker MP
January 2022