PM confirms capital funding rise

Following up on a pledge he made on entering Downing Street, Mr Johnson (pictured) said 20 projects would be given a total of £850m to improve patient care by updating facilities, equipment and IT. He added that NHS capital spending will increase by more than £1bn in 2019/20 – this would allow existing upgrade programmes to proceed and the most urgent infrastructure projects to be tackled.

The devolved administrations will receive additional Barnett funding – indicative allocations are around £110m for Wales, £180m for Scotland and £60m for Northern Ireland.

It is unclear how much of the £850m will be spent this year – the 20 schemes include projects that could be implemented over a range of timescales. The schemes include a £99.5m critical and intensive care block at Luton and Dunstable NHS Foundation Trust; a £100m women’s and children’s hospital at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust; and a £12m single laboratory information management system for pathology across West Yorkshire and Harrogate.

The funding will go some way to reversing the 20% reduction in planned capital spending that trusts were asked to make earlier this summer. At the time of the request, capital plans would have breached the Department of Health and Social Care’s capital spending limit.

There was some controversy over whether the funding was new or, as some commentators claimed, simply the Treasury giving permission for trusts to spend surpluses from previous years.

Health Foundation senior economist Ben Gershlick said that though the funding was welcome, backlog maintenance stood at around £6bn. He added that the NHS had been unable to meet the 62-day cancer treatment target for the last five years partly because of a lack of diagnostic equipment and capacity.

'In this context, any new funding for buildings, equipment and technology will help, but allocating money late in the year and changing budgets multiple times is not an effective way to plan investment,’ he said.

‘The health secretary has promised a comprehensive settlement for capital spending that will follow this short-term boost. This is welcome but must happen sooner rather than later, and be driven by a transparent and robust assessment of the needs of patients and staff.’

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said the funding must be ‘the first down payment on a consistent, longer term, approach to rebuilding the NHS and creating the 21st century infrastructure the NHS requires’.

He added that he believed trusts would not now have to cut planned capital spending by 20%.

Mr Johnson said he wanted to ensure frontline services have the funding they need. ‘Today I’m delivering on this promise with a £1.8bn cash injection – meaning more beds, new wards, and extra life-saving equipment to ensure patients continue to receive world-class care. It’s time to face up to this challenge and make sure the NHS receives the funds it needs to continue being the best healthcare service in the world.’

Matt Hancock, the health and social care secretary, added: ‘This is just the start of our health infrastructure plan, with patients set to see and feel the benefits for years to come.’

Mr Hancock will announce, later this week, further measures to tackle the pensions tax problem. The issue is leading some senior doctors and GPs to refuse to take additional shifts.