PM’s capital boost welcome, but not enough, NHS bodies say

02 July 2020 Seamus Ward

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In a speech on restarting the economy, prime minister Boris Johnson (pictured) said his government would ‘continue and step up the biggest ever programme of funding the NHS’. He added that the government had ‘not forgotten’ that it was elected to build 40 new hospitals.Boris Johnson

Later, Number 10 added that extra capital funding for the NHS would be part of a New deal for Britain, bringing forward £5bn of capital investment across the wider economy. The NHS share of this would amount to £1.5bn this year, focusing on hospital maintenance, eradicating mental health dormitories, enabling hospital building, and improving A&E capacity. ‘This will improve patient care, make sure NHS hospitals can deliver world-leading services and reduce the risk of coronavirus infections,’ it said.

The Department of Health and Social Care told Healthcare Finance that the £1.5bn is new money, adding that the Treasury will provide an additional £1.5bn capital departmental expenditure limit (CDEL) cover immediately. The figure will be formally added to the Department’s CDEL later in the year via the Parliamentary supplementary estimate process.

Health and social care secretary Matt Hancock will set out the list of 40 new hospitals shortly, Number 10 added.

Mr Johnson said the government would also focus on social care. ‘We will continue and step up the biggest ever programme of funding the NHS and we won’t wait to fix the problem of social care that every government has flunked for the last 30 years. We will end the injustice that some people have to sell their homes to finance the costs of their care while others don’t. We are finalising our plans and we will build a cross-party consensus.’

NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson said the NHS entered the pandemic with more than 100,000 vacancies and with investment needed in its building, equipment and IT, as well as the ‘dire need’ for increased long-term funding for social care.

‘What has been announced is necessary, but not sufficient, and it has a pre-Covid-19 feel about it. We urgently need more capital, and not just in hospitals, and we certainly need to solve social care, but much has changed since these 2019 election pledges were first made.

‘Our members are trying to recover from the shock of the virus, which has disrupted just about every service the NHS provides; they are doing this with Covid-19 an ever present danger, and under the threat of local outbreaks and a second surge. So, the short-term pressures and danger are very real.’

Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers deputy chief executive, welcomed Mr Johnson’s announcement, particularly the move to eradicate mental health dormitory wards. But she added: ‘What trust leaders need is a multi-year capital budget, bringing expenditure into line with comparable economies, that allows them to plan for the future. This should be part of a proper spending review process encompassing other vital and long-overlooked issues including education and training and public health.

‘And they need a better allocation system so capital funding gets through to where it’s needed most.’

Anita Charlesworth, director of research and REAL Centre (Research and Economic Analysis for the Long term) at the Health Foundation, said the additional capital would not go far in addressing years of underinvestment, which has led to a maintenance backlog in trusts valued at £6.5bn.

'The UK has historically spent far less than other countries on capital in the health system, and even with recent increases it will still be behind the average of comparable countries,’ Ms Charlesworth (pictured) said.anita_charlesworth.landscape

'In the last seven years the government has transferred over £5bn in real terms from the NHS capital budget to fund the day-to-day running of the health service. The NHS needs a capital strategy and a clear plan for long-term investment. But while buildings and equipment are important, investment in capital must be accompanied by investment in the workforce to provide the extra capacity the NHS clearly needs.’

Speaking at a Common Health and Social Care Committee hearing, NHS chief executive Simon Stevens hailed the announcement on mental health capital funding.

‘Too many of the buildings and facilities in which NHS mental healthcare is being delivered are out of date and need a significant upgrade,’ he said. ‘That’s why I am really pleased that the prime minister’s announcement gives effect to capital investment to phase out altogether so-called dormitory wards across NHS mental health providers. The money we are getting today, part of the £1.5bn, will enable mental health providers to do that.’

The prime minister also unveiled plans to speed up the process of approving new building, pointing out that the Nightingale hospitals were readied in 10 days. He will establish a new infrastructure delivery taskforce, named Project Speed, which will be led by the chancellor Rishi Sunak. The taskforce will bring forward proposals to deliver government’s public investment projects more strategically and efficiently. It will aim to cut down the time it takes to develop, design and deliver vital infrastructure projects. Projects will include the 40 new hospitals the government has committed to build and the school rebuilding programme announced yesterday.