Tory government set to underfund English NHS by £850 million this year

Last Updated: November 10, 2016By Tags: , , , ,
The £850m sum emerged in part from figures supplied to the magazine by all but five of England’s 237 NHS trusts [Image: Peter Byrne/PA].

The £850m sum emerged in part from figures supplied to the magazine by all but five of England’s 237 NHS trusts [Image: Peter Byrne/PA].

The news media need to change their language here – the NHS is not overspending; it is under-funded.

If the NHS in England is going to overshoot its budget by £850 million, then it is because those budgets are not high enough.

Let’s not forget, also, that the Tory plan was always to cut the NHS by £20 billion, so the current intention to provide £8 billion of extra funding still implies a cut of £12 billion.

The only justifiable reason for a cut in health service funding is if it doesn’t need the money. And I’m not seeing that.

If Jeremy Hunt wants to make savings, then he should cut private health companies, and their profit motive, out of the NHS – but he’ll never do that because it is against his ideology.

Other than that, he should be working on ensuring that the cost of treatments falls – but, again, he’ll never do that because it opposes the profit motive and is against his ideology.

While there remains a clinical need for NHS funding to be higher than Tory budgets, that money will have to be found.

Lives depend on it.

NHS hospital trusts are on course to overshoot their budgets by £850m this year, more than three times the deficit health service bosses said was acceptable, research has shown.

Such an overspend would be a setback for NHS England’s chief executive, Simon Stevens, and Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, as they have pledged to ensure that trusts end the year no more than £250m in the red.

The impending deficit, uncovered by the Health Service Journal, threatens to derail the agreement the NHS reached with the Treasury in July to “reset” the service’s disastrous finances this year in return for receiving £3.8bn upfront of its planned £8bn extra funding.

Source: NHS trusts on course to overshoot budgets by £850m, figures suggest | Society | The Guardian

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No Comments

  1. jeffrey davies November 10, 2016 at 4:06 pm - Reply

    wasnt it shown that 19billion had been lost to the nhs they just tell all alls well while quietly cutting the purse strings again ready for that sell off

  2. Robert Moran November 10, 2016 at 4:10 pm - Reply

    jeremy Hunt is hell bents on forcing the NHS to close down completely.That is why he wants to give contracts that is not at all fair to the jr doctors he wants them to quit the NHS so as to get his greedy friends like Richard Branson the rich Lords and rich tory MPS to buy it for a song.Why he wants the Jnr doctors to quit he knows that the NHS Trusts will make all the top consultants and NHS managers will have to say they cant cope and will agree with the Goverment it will have to be privatised.The great man that started it in 1948 Nye Bevan did because he was born in a big industy area and he seen people dying in agony when he was growing up because they could not afford the medication and medical care they needed so badly.This evil Goverment wants to cut the population down of this Country.They know full well the ordinary workers the OAPs on state pension the sick/disabled/the unemployed/the homelss and will not beable to afford medincines and medical care for their children lets be honest.The bottom line is this goverment wants all the ordinary and poor people and their children to die.The Goverment have no feelings they have no compasion they have all sold their souls to Satan to have more wealth and power.Take a look back in time Theresa May when home secetery on the westminister paediophile scandal she said no stone will be unturned until they fetch it in the open lets be honest she must have red a lot of the files while home secetery what happens then Cameron called a referendum to remain or leave the EU brexit won Cameron resigned because he lost there was 4 MPS was going for the leadship 2 dropped out then there was 2 then the other dropped out the Theresa May just walks in to number 10 without a challenge what I am comming to May seen a lot of the names on them paediophiles list when she left her old post all them files just disapear Paul Daniels ghost must be in that departments. THE OLD TORY ELITE MADE SURE SHE GOT THE PM JOB maybe one or two of their names cold be on that evil list. KC

  3. Dez November 10, 2016 at 4:16 pm - Reply

    When is this country ever going to get totally independant and transparent data and information such that we can depend on its accuracy and truth. I really cannot be doing with all these political agendas, not helped by a biased media, such that one ends up totally confused in smoke and mirrors land …… which I suspect is the whole idea……. ho hum

  4. Rupert Mitchell (@rupert_rrl) November 10, 2016 at 5:01 pm - Reply

    As you point out we have a government intent of depriving the electorate (that comprises of course, of Conservatives and well as those of other political persuasions) of their NHS in the interest of putting profit before people. This can not be a Government which is concerned for the health of the Nation but rather one which is concerned with the profitability of the pharmaceutical providers and some of their own MPs.

  5. Fibro confused November 10, 2016 at 5:19 pm - Reply

    If we want to keep our NHS we have to keep fighting, and hope there is a change in party come the next election, whether means an alliance of other like minded minority parties if needed then that’s the only option anything less will mean no welfare in any shape or form going forward all that we have relied on to look after us will be in the hands of the private sector

  6. Dez November 11, 2016 at 4:53 pm - Reply

    Once again another Cons media release that is tailored exactly to their required lies that conceal an alternative political agenda. Like the USA the media was very pro. Obama and the Democrats which was fine provided they at least tell the truth and be fair. The same is happening here in the UK the media and their journalists have lost the plot in not first digging into the detail so readers can judge the real facts…..I’m just fed up with political PR and Cons propoganda to the point there is so much that one ignores it and in my case have stopped buying these rags.

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