Health Secretary Steve Barclay has strongly implied that the NHS will receive additional funding in Thursday’s Autumn Statement.
At a conference for NHS managers, he refuted reports from the weekend that he had suggested the organization did not require additional funding.
He reported having numerous conversations with the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt.
And he suggested he should be evaluated tomorrow based on whether he was successful in obtaining additional funding for the NHS.
As part of the Autumn Statement, it is anticipated that the chancellor will announce a vast array of cuts to public spending.
NHS faces a £7 billion deficit
According to a five-year spending agreement reached four years ago, NHS England’s budget will increase by nearly $5 billion to $157.4 billion in 2019.
Inflationary pressures, however, will result in a £7 billion deficit for the NHS in the coming year, NHS leaders have warned.
Mr. Barclay, speaking at the annual conference of NHS Providers in Liverpool, refuted a newspaper report that suggested he did not believe the NHS required additional funding.
He stated, “That is completely incorrect.” “The good news is that tomorrow colleagues in the room will be able to see.”
Given the fiscal situation, I can assure you that the Treasury would not allocate any funds to the department if the department said it didn’t need them.
Having held ministerial positions in No. 10 and the Treasury, he is “very good at understanding how to best make the case” for health, which he believes he can bring to this position.
The health secretary stated, “I can affirm unequivocally that we need assistance to combat inflationary pressures.
Moreover, he urged delegates to judge him based on the results of Thursday’s announcement, stating that they should determine whether “it is true or not that we don’t get a penny and I haven’t asked for a penny.”
If the NHS budget increased, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland would also receive more funding for health care.
However, he reiterated his position that the 17% pay increase requested by the Royal College of Nursing was unaffordable because it would divert funds from other areas of the NHS.
He also provided information regarding the release of an emergency winter fund of £500 million to assist hospitals.
The funding was announced in September, but health administrators grew increasingly concerned that it had not yet reached the front.
Mr. Barclay stated that it would be disbursed in two installments, the first at the start of December and the second in late January.
The funds will be used to combat delayed discharges, which occur when patients who are ready to leave the hospital cannot due to a lack of community support.
“Trust leaders will welcome assurances from the health secretary that he has advocated for the NHS in negotiations with the chancellor,” said Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive officer of NHS Providers.
