New technology and functioning hospitals will be the first
priority in the Government's ambition to modernise the NHS and
make it fit for the future.
More than £3 billion has been set aside to mend the crumbling
wards and bring healthcare tech into the 21st century
– to give patients the right care, in the right location, with
the right technology.
It's only with this new technology and functioning hospitals that
the NHS can begin to reform in earnest – and create a health
service that can thrive for generations to come.
This is part of the Chancellor's record-breaking £22.6
billion increase in day-to-day spending and £3.1 billion capital
boost for the Department for Health and Social Care from 2023/24
to 2025/26, which will reduce waiting times and rebuild the
NHS.
Paired with reforms set out in the Government's 10-Year Health
Plan, this overdue injection of capital spending will fix the
foundations and make the delivery of healthcare more efficient
for generations to come. It will move us from hospital to
community, analogue to digital, and from sickness to
prevention.
It comes alongside a commitment to deliver 2% productivity growth
to the nation's healthcare system.
Prime Minister, Rt Hon , said:
“We're fixing the foundations to deliver change – by fixing the
NHS and rebuilding Britain, while ensuring working people don't
face higher taxes in their payslips.
“Yesterday's budget marks a huge step towards that – setting us
on the path to make our public services fit for the
future.
This new settlement follows a shocking report by Lord Darzi
earlier this year, which laid bare the chronic underinvestment in
both facilities and technology that has been stunting the
NHS.
He concluded the last decade was a "missed opportunity” to
prepare the NHS for the future and embrace the technologies that
would enable a shift in the model from ‘diagnose and treat' to
‘predict and prevent'— something he warned about 15 years
ago.
Yesterday's budget puts an end to that – with £2 billion set
aside to tilt the NHS towards technology and £1 billion to deal
with the bulging backlog of maintenance work that has left
hospitals on their knees.
The investment of more than £2 billion will transform the way NHS
staff work as the service looks to harness new technologies to
free up their time so they can focus on the care and treatment of
patients.
The £1 billion will tackle critical repairs and the NHS
maintenance backlog which has built up since 2010; something
highlighted by Lord Darzi, which has meant the NHS has left in a
‘critical condition'.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon , said:
“This was a Budget to fix the foundations and deliver change –
starting by fixing the NHS.
“It's a service that matters to so many of us and this is us
delivering on our promise of change.”
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
“We're on a mission to fix our broken NHS by driving fundamental
reform, to bring our analogue health service into the digital
age. We will put the latest kit in the hands of NHS staff and use
modern technology to give patients real control over their own
healthcare.
“Through our 10-Year Health Plan we will cut waiting lists,
reduce waiting times and get the health service delivering for
patients and staff once again.”
Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS national director of transformation,
said:
“The NHS has already made £2 billion of efficiency savings so far
this financial year, and the Chancellor's confirmation of funding
for next year will allow us to continue to roll out technology to
improve productivity and switch services from analogue to
digital.
“Whether it is critical estates maintenance, cyber security or
digitising patient records, the NHS is committed to working with
the Government in the coming months to fix the foundations of the
health service, while also transforming for the future.”
