The SNP has challenged the Chancellor to deliver at least
£16billion a year of additional funding for the NHS - after
experts warned the Labour government's leaked UK budget plans do
not go far enough.
It comes after sources told The Independent that the Department
for Health and Social Care is expecting to get a settlement of
around 4 per cent – between £7bn and £8bn, which experts have
warned would be "a stand still settlement" for the NHS
following years of Westminster underfunding and the cost of pay
deals, inflation, covid backlogs and Brexit.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for a minimum of
£13billion extra a year. Meanwhile, deputy chief executive of NHS
Providers, Saffron Cordery, has warned of a "near £14billion
maintenance backlog" and the recent NHS report by Lord Darzi
concluded "there is a shortfall of £37 billion of capital
investment. These missing billions are what would have been
invested if the NHS had matched peer countries' levels of capital
investment in the 2010s."
It follows new research, conducted by the House of Commons
Library and published by the SNP earlier this month, which found
the UK government spends less on healthcare per capita than
almost every other country in north west Europe - and has done
for every year of the 21st century.
The analysis, using OECD data, found on average, our European
neighbours spent £5,654 per person per year on healthcare between
2000 and 2023, compared to £4,609 for the UK. That is a gap of
more than a thousand pounds (£1,045) - or nineteen per cent - per
person per year.
In 2022, the most recent year for which data is available for all
countries, the UK government spent less on health than thirteen
of the fourteen countries in north west Europe. It spent £7,963
per person, which was £5,097 - almost forty per cent - less than
Norway (£13,060), £3,288 less than Germany (29%), £3,255 less
than Switzerland (29%), £2,916 less than Luxembourg (27%), £1,894
less than Ireland (19%), £1,836 less than the Netherlands (19%),
£1,679 less than Denmark (17%), £1,533 less than Austria (16%),
£1,524 less than Sweden (16%), £954 less than France (11%), £845
less than Iceland (10%), and £589 less than Belgium (7%).
Last year, the same trend continued, with the UK government
spending the least of the eight countries for which 2023 data is
currently available and £1,986 - nineteen per cent - less per
person than the average of our European neighbours.
A funding boost of £16billion would deliver an additional
£1.6billion in Barnett consequentials to spend on healthcare in
Scotland, and it would be a start in closing the gap with our
European neighbours, raising UK spending by around £238 per
person.
Commenting, SNP Westminster Health spokesperson MP said:
"If these leaked UK Budget reports are true, it's clear the
Labour government is planning to continue Westminster's chronic
underfunding of the NHS, which has done so much damage over the
past fourteen years.
"The reality is £8billion a year is nowhere near enough given the
huge pressures the NHS has faced from years of Westminster
austerity cuts, sky-high inflation, covid backlogs, Brexit, and
the challenges of an ageing population.
"The Chancellor must deliver at least an additional £16billion a
year, if the Labour government is serious about ending austerity
and reversing the damage that years of Tory underfunding have
inflicted.
"The fact that the UK government has lagged behind our European
neighbours on health spending in every year of the 21st century
shows that more can and must be done. A £16billion increase
is the bare minimum needed to begin closing the gap,
and it would deliver an additional £1.6billion for NHS
Scotland.
"The NHS needs investment if it is to deliver the best possible
healthcare. Hospitals won't build themselves, the best medication
and equipment won't buy itself, and you can't recruit more
doctors and nurses, or reduce waiting lists, without adequate
investment.
"The Labour government will damage the NHS in every part of the
UK, if it continues to starve our public services of the
investment they need. As said - all roads lead back to Westminster. It's
vital the Chancellor delivers meaningful investment now."
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
'Wes Streeting warned inflation-busting NHS Budget deal will not
be enough' - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/wes-streeting-nhs-budget-deal-b2632418.html
House of Commons Library analysis, commissioned by the
SNP:
Data source: OECD data explorer - health expenditure and
financing data: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/
