Any underfunded health care service leads to inevitable consequences both in human and financial terms. The result of financial difficulty can often fall on staff and patients alike. Staff work in less than ideal environments, poor salaries, and long shifts. Patients can feel the brunt of lack of funding with longer waiting lists, cheaper alternative medicines, and staffing shortages. Having said that, productivity has increased and the NHS continues to hold its core values.

Already clutching reserves from next year’s money pot, the NHS is financially battling. Although the system showed savings for last year, these savings are a mere top-layer under which worrying financial crisis appears to loom. The savings were made from one-off events, these events cannot be repeated, so how will savings be made going forward?

Is the government doing enough?

The King’s Fund released a report recently, ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget highlighting how spending growth has been capped at 0.4% – one of the lowest rates of growth ever and is not enough to substitute for the lack of government investment over recent years. While the NHS improves productivity by 1.7% each year, it is simply not enough to meet the shortfall.

Why is the NHS failing?

1. Underinvestment – this, in turn, leads to deteriorating and unsuitable facilities.
2. The Social Care System is in crisis – A funding gap of £2.5 billion exists.
3. £2.8 billion is required for estates with high maintenance risks.
4. Local authority funded social care will be cut off.
5. The NHS is soaking in a false economy- believing if they spend less now to spend more later. ¹

The scale of the problem is huge.

A report written by the Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation and The King’s Fund, revealed projected figures up to 2023. The staggering statistics showcase the scale of the spending gap if the NHS continues to be underfunded by the government.

The NHS Funding Gap

2020/21 estimates NHS England (assuming funding rises in line with national inflation).

Efficiency Savings                                        Shortfall by 2020/21

None                                                                   £30 billion

0.8% annually                                                   £21 billion

1.5% annually                                                    £16 billion

2-3 % annually                                                   £8 billion

Source: The five-year forward view, 2014.

What is the solution for the future?

Cutting waste, increasing efficiency and more funding from the government are defined pathways forward. On a positive note, an £850 million development package has been planned for new infrastructure projects and renovations over the next five years. This ultimately will lead to more beds, improved facilities and better care. With more money floating around, the NHS will be better equipped to invest in recruitment to staff these proposed new buildings.

References

The King’s fund, Autumn Budget, Nov. 2017. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/autumn-budget-2017-what-it-means