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NHS funding: Brexit ‘won’t save enough’ to fund £20bn boost

18 июня
09:22 2018
SurgeonsImage copyright Getty Images
Image caption The funding boost means an extra £20bn a year for the NHS by 2023

The government will not reveal how a £20bn funding boost to the NHS is being funded until the autumn budget - but any savings through Brexit will not be "anything like enough" to pay for it.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt also says there "will be an increased burden of taxation" to fund the 3.4% increase.

It came after Theresa May said the NHS funding boost would be partly funded by what she called a "Brexit dividend".

Labour's John McDonnell called the funding model "not credible".

The prime minister announced at the weekend that the government's plan to increase the NHS budget over the next five years.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hunt said the "exact details" of how the increase would be funded "will be announced in the budget".

He said: "We won't be paying subscriptions to Brussels... but that alone won't be anything like enough."

Alongside taxation, Mr Hunt said money for the funding boost could also come from economic growth.

Mrs May promised that by 2023 an extra £20bn a year would be available for the health service in England on top of any rises to keep up with inflation.

This year's NHS budget is £114bn.

Analysis

By Hugh Pym, BBC health editor

It was a significant funding announcement - few at senior levels in the NHS in England disagree with that.

But as the dust settles after the weekend, several unanswered questions are still hanging in the air.

What about the areas of health which are not covered? What about investment in hospital buildings and equipment? How will it be paid for?

Read more from Hugh

The average annual rise since its foundation in 1948 is 3.7%, with average increases of around 6% during the Blair and Brown Labour governments between 1997 and 2010, which then plummeted during the austerity years.

While the spending commitment has been widely welcomed by those within the health service, Mrs May has been asked to explain how the extra spending will be paid for.

Shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell criticised the idea that the funding increase could be partly paid for by a "Brexit dividend".

He said: "The speculation about where it's coming from, particularly the Brexit dividend, is just not credible as far as many commentators are saying."

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  • Does the Brexit dividend actually exist?

There has been criticism from within her own party as well.

The Conservative chair of the Commons' Health and Social Care Committee, Sarah Wollaston, said the idea of a Brexit dividend was "tosh".

And Paul Johnson, director of economic think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the only way the rise could be paid for was by an increase in taxes.

He said the financial settlement with the EU, plus the UK's commitments to replace EU funding, "already uses up all of our EU contributions" for the next few years.

Year-by-year funding increases

  • 2019-20 - 3.6%
  • 2020-21 - 3.6%
  • 2021-22 - 3.1%
  • 2022-23 - 3.1%
  • 2023-24 - 3.4%

All figures are above inflation

Mrs May has not ruled out tax rises, and there will be much interest in what she says about that in her speech on Monday morning.

The PM will fill in some of the details on her proposed 10-year plan, which she will say must ensure "every penny is well spent".

"It must be a plan that tackles waste, reduces bureaucracy and eliminates unacceptable variation," she will say.

Mental health

Mrs May has asked NHS England boss Simon Stevens to help draw up the plan with the input of senior staff working in the health service.

Work on the plan will get under way almost immediately, with final proposals expected towards the end of the year.

Four main areas of improving the efficiency of the NHS will be looked at:

  • The workforce
  • Technology
  • Buildings
  • Productivity

The plan will build on the five-year strategy Mr Stevens set out in 2015.

A big part of that was shifting care out of hospitals and into the community.

Media playback is unsupported on your device
Media captionTheresa May promises extra NHS funding

Mrs May is known to be keen to see a specific stress on mental health and cancer this time.

The PM will also recall her own reliance on the NHS for help when she was diagnosed with type one diabetes, saying: "I would not be doing the job I am doing today without that support."

Meanwhile, councils have questioned why the funding announcement did not also include more money for social care and public health, which covers everything from stop smoking services to obesity prevention.

Both are considered essential to the sustainability of the NHS, but the increase announced only applied to front-line NHS services such as hospitals, GPs and mental health care.

Councillor Izzi Seccombe, of the Local Government Association, said: "Without essential council services, which help people live healthy lives in their own homes and communities, the NHS cannot thrive."

The announcement for England means the rest of the UK will also be given extra money, although it is up to the governments in Wales and Scotland to decide exactly how that is spent.

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