RCP president Professor Dame Jane Dacre responds to prime minister Theresa May's announcement that the NHS would receive an additional £20.5bn more a year by the end of 2023-24.
Commenting on the new funding for the NHS, Professor Dame Jane Dacre said:
More money is always good news and we’re grateful to the government for hearing our calls for investment. We particularly welcome the commitment to the NHS’ long term future and the priority focus on investing around patients’ needs. We also welcome the prime minister stressing that clinicians must be involved in making sure that the new resources are focused on the right clinical priorities.
A 5-year 3.4 per cent annual increase is a significant rise in comparison to recent times, but we mustn’t underestimate the impact that the last few years have had on the service and workforce morale. With performance targets missed, staff vacancies and waiting lists rising there is much catching up to do before we can even think about some of the transformation challenges the profession, the public and government want to see addressed.
A new 10-year vision that focuses on better integration between health and social care, innovation, more parity for physical and mental health care and with a strong emphasis on prevention can only be a good thing. But the prime minister is right, to succeed this must be developed with the buy-in of staff and with patients’ needs right at the heart. A resourced, ambitious and forward-looking new workforce strategy will also be absolutely key.
For some time the RCP has been saying that doctors are unable to deliver the world class care we need and expect. In the past year patients and the public have been absolutely clear in their commitment to the NHS and are prepared to pay more for it. It’s good to see the government has listened and we now look forward to seeing more detail on what these proposals mean in reality. And we will expect an equally fair settlement in this year’s budget for social care, public health and capital investment without which no long-term plan will be able to work.
In the Theresa May's new long-term funding deal for the NHS, she confirmed a planned real-terms annual rise of 3.4% until 2023-24, giving NHS England £20.5bn more a year by the end of the period. The funding, according to government, will come from a "Brexit dividend" and "taxpayer contributions".