Health Committee challenges Chancellor
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- Published: Monday, 31 October 2016 07:37
- Written by News Editor
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The chair of the Commons Health Select Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in advance of the Autumn Statement due to be delivered on Nov 23. She says that her Committee has concerns that the Government does not recognise the severe financial pressures under which the NHS is working.
The Committee says that the continued claim that there is additional health spending of £10 billion is not only incorrect but gives the impression that the NHS is ‘awash with cash’. They point out that a substantial part of the additional money has been found from other areas of health spending, such as the public health grant to local authorities. This puts at risk the aim of the Five Year Forward View, which called for a “radical upgrade in prevention and public health.”
Of more concern to the Committee is the reduction in funding of social care, which has serious implications for the NHS. They also say that capital expenditure has been constrained. They note that suggestions have been made that the NHS should learn from cuts that have been made in the Home Office and Defence budgets. But these do not take into account the inflationary pressures on the NHS from an ageing population.
The Committee calls on the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement to:
- Make available further capital resources for the NHS
- Address the crisis in social care provision
- Look again at the funding settlement for the mid-years of the review
For the full text of the letter see:
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