Spending round is missed opportunity, chancellor told

In the one-year spending round, chancellor Sajid Javid confirmed the previously announced £1.8bn boost to capital, adding that there would be a further £250m to back the introduction of artificial intelligence.

As part of this package, capital funding would increase by £1bn in 2019/20, Mr Javid said. NHS revenue funding was set last year in the five-year settlement.

The chancellor increased the Health Education England budget by 3.4% to support delivery of the NHS long-term plan and create a fund worth £150m for continuing professional development (CPD). This fund will provide a £1,000 central training budget over three years for each nurse, midwife and allied health professional.

The public health grant will increase in real terms and there was an extra £1bn for adult and children’s social care. This would help local authorities meet rising demand for services and continue to help stabilise the system, he said.

The NHS contribution to adult social care through the Better Care Fund will increase by 3.4% in real terms, in line with the overall NHS long-term settlement.

The government will consult on a 2% adult social care precept on council tax bills that will enable councils to access a further £0.5bn, Mr Javid added.

But Nuffield Trust chief economist John Appleby (pictured) said the spending round was ‘a missed opportunity to turn around years of cuts to the crucial budgets that support the NHS and the patients who depend on it.’

He added: ‘There is new money here, and it is welcome, but it amounts to only about a third of what we calculated was required.’

The CPD funding was much less than needed to return ongoing training budgets to 2013/14 levels, while the additional social care funding was no more than a ‘sticking plaster’, Professor Appleby added.

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said that trusts welcomed the additional capital and training funding. However, he added: ‘We still need concrete long-term funding commitments on capital, public health and education if the NHS is to deliver its long-term plan.’