The Guardian view on NHS spending: what’s enough? | Editorial

NHS England fronts up to the Treasury. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon ponders higher taxes for higher health spending. The debate is on

The chancellor knew that the cash he announced for NHS England in Wednesday’s budget fell well short of the demand for an extra £4bn next year which was made by the NHS boss Simon Stevens a fortnight ago. Philip Hammond did find £1.6bn for 2018-19, along with £337m to ease pressures this winter, and £900m for 2019-20; taken together they mean he has honoured the manifesto pledge to increase per capita funding year on year. All the same, the health service in England faces the toughest decade in its history.

But other public services are faring much worse. The difference is that – unlike, say, schools or social care or social security, none of which received any real boost in the budget – NHS England has quasi-independence from government, thanks to the ill-considered Lansley reforms. Mr Stevens has drawn the lines for a very public debate over the right level of health service spending. In an illuminating parallel, the SNP minority government in Edinburgh is deciding whether to use its powers to raise income tax, partly to boost health spending in Scotland by £500m plus inflation.

Continue reading... November 24, 2017 at 12:45AM