Responding to today’s Comprehensive Spending Review1, BMA representative body chair Dr Latifa Patel said:
“The Government is keen to highlight how much money is going into health and the NHS, but we need to be realistic about how far it will go for patients and for staff.
“It still falls short of average increases we’ve seen in health spending historically, and of the investment needed to fulfil the NHS workforce plan. The Government’s own modelling reportedly concludes that today’s funding will still not be enough to meet its waiting list pledges within this Parliament.
“With an ageing population, crumbling buildings and huge workforce pressures, it is simply not good enough for healthcare spending to keep systems treading water. Doctors and their colleagues are the ones shouldering this additional burden and, while the Chancellor today said she is ‘grateful to doctors’, they cannot be expected to carry on acting on goodwill alone.
“If the Government wants to keep doctors working in the NHS, and to help fulfil its pledges on healthcare, it needs to value them properly – and the simple truth is that this needs funding. Unfortunately, today’s announcement does not go far enough and despite today’s platitudes on health and the NHS workforce, the elephant in the room is that doctors are once again in dispute with the Government over pay. It will cost the country far more in the long run – in lost skills and expertise - to allow the NHS to continue driving doctors away than to pay them what they are worth; to fund enough jobs to meet demand and ensure doctors are not underemployed.
“Meanwhile, the Government has said it wants to ‘bring back the family doctor’. Our GP colleagues will now be looking carefully at whether today’s funding will allow the Government to deliver the new GP contract it has committed to, how it works for both practices and patients – and crucially if it will address the absurd situation where we need more GPs seeing patients, but GPs are struggling to find work.
“Anyone who has visited an NHS building in recent years will see outdated and often unsafe facilities. While the Government recently uplifted the NHS’s capital budget, there’s still a gap in what’s needed to make healthcare estates and infrastructure safe and fit for purpose.
“Outside of the NHS investment in public health remains well behind what’s needed to keep the population healthy and tackle rising health inequalities. Alongside inadequate funding for social care, this has knock-on effects on the health service. The boost to research and development must translate into funding for clinical academics – the doctors who lead the life sciences sector and ensure this research translates into better treatment for patients.
“It was good to hear the Chancellor recognise that ‘a strong economy needs a strong NHS’. The question now is whether today’s announcements are enough to bolster the health service, so it can bear the huge weight placed upon it and prevent it from buckling under this inordinate pressure and collapsing entirely.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.
- Full information available from the Treasury.