Boris Johnson news live: NHS to receive £6bn in Budget
Rishi Sunak admits £7bn transport pledge only £1.5bn of new money
The Treasury has pledged a £6bn package of funding aimed at tackling NHS waiting lists in England as part of Rishi Sunak’s autumn Budget, which is set to be unveiled this week.
It is understood that £3.8bn of the funding will go towards getting the health service “back on track” following the Covid crisis, while roughly £2.1bn will be used for “digitising” the NHS.
Previous estimates have suggested that the sum offered may not be enough to clear the huge backlog in care, with figures showing that the number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment in England has hit a record 5.6 million.
More than £30bn of spending has already been committed across numerous announcements from the Treasury over the weekend, the largest of which being £7bn for transport infrastructure outside of London.
However, Mr Sunak admitted on Sunday that only £1.5bn of that £7bn would be new money as the chancellor conceded that much of the funding would go towards previously announced projects.
Health service needs more than £6bn funding offer, NHS official says
The NHS needs “a little bit more” than the £6bn funding which is set to be given to the health service to help tackle the waiting list backlog, an NHS official has said.
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, told Times Radio: “£6bn is a lot of money, especially in the current economic climate.
“While it will be really helpful, particularly in addressing the backlog, we need to remember that the NHS does need a little bit more than that in order to properly restore services and work through the additional expenses that have been created by Covid-19.
“So certainly that money will go a long way, but I think that we will also need to see investment in other areas.”
Conrad Duncan25 October 2021 08:45
Javid says expectant mothers should be ‘reassured’ they will get care they need
Health secretary Sajid Javid has insisted that expectant mothers should be “reassured” that they will get the care they need following reports that maternity services are near breaking point.
The Guardian reported on Sunday night that the NHS could be unable to deliver necessary care for women giving birth if Covid cases continue to rise.
When asked about the report, Mr Javid replied: “Of course, I can reassure… no expectant mum should have that kind of concern.
“I’m not going to say for a second that the NHS is not under huge pressure, everyone can see what’s happening and throughout the pandemic we’ve seen the NHS rise to a huge challenge – and that challenge continues.”
You can find his comments in full below:
Conrad Duncan25 October 2021 08:34
Javid insists NHS investment will start making difference ‘pretty quickly’
Some of the £6bn NHS investment will start “making a difference pretty quickly”, with more than £2bn going to community diagnostic centres for tests and scans to tackle waiting lists, health secretary Sajid Javid has said.
Mr Javid insisted on Monday that funding would be made available for the issue of staff shortages, when asked…
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