Health set to be hot topic in December election campaign

During the opening skirmishes, prime minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn clashed over the NHS in the final prime minister’s questions before Parliament was due to be dissolved. Mr Corbyn said the Conservatives had presided over funding cuts, which had led to rising waiting times for cancer and other treatments. If he wins the election, the Labour leader said that he would reverse the privatisation of the NHS.

Earlier, Labour warned that a post-Brexit trade deal with the United States would leave NHS services vulnerable to US companies. Drugs prices could increase under such a trade deal, putting NHS finances at risk.

The prime minister defended the Tory record on the NHS, highlighting recent spending commitments. He insisted voters faced a stark choice between his government, which was spending ‘unrivalled’ sums on the health service, and Labour, which would destabilise the economy, leaving less to spend on the NHS.

A majority of MPs agreed to go ahead with the general election after the European Union accepted the UK’s request to extend the deadline for leaving until 31 January 2020.

Keith Willett, NHS England and NHS Improvement EU exit strategic commander, wrote to the service to explain that the NHS no-deal exit plans would not come into force on 31 October, as planned.

He said arrangements to monitor the operational impact of a no-deal exit have been paused until the next no-deal date approaches. The extension period would be used to review NHS plans for all scenarios, including a deal and no-deal, to ensure the service is as prepared as possible, he added.

An incoming government will face several decisions on health and care. It will have to decide whether to take forward legislation set out in the Conservatives’ Queen’s Speech in mid-October. This included several NHS bills, including one to smooth the implementation of the NHS long-term plan. Measures that could be part of the bill include greater tariff-setting flexibility and a reserve power to set foundation trusts’ capital spending limits.

When the long-term plan was published, Labour welcomed its aspirations, but it warned that the NHS would continue to be held back by cuts and chronic staff shortages.

The next government will also face a strong lobby from the medical profession to reform pension tax rules that are said to have led clinicians to refuse additional shifts or even consider early retirement.

The NHS in England is due to be working its way back to financial balance – both overall and as individual organisations – over the first years of the next government.

The finance report for quarter one, published by NHS England and NHS Improvement in October, showed the overall revenue position for providers and commissioners was largely in line with plan over the first quarter of 2018/19. The forecast year-end position indicated an overspend of just under £84m against plan (the NHS has planned a balanced position across commissioners and providers).

According to the report, the forecast overspend was largely due to technical reasons.

Looking deeper at the figures, the forecast year-end position for commissioners was an underspend of £196m, against a planned £282m underspend. Providers plan to overspend by £282m, although the forecast predicts a slightly lower overspend of £280m.