The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has welcomed the announcement of extra funding for the NHS in today’s Budget.
Rachel Reeves MP delivered her first Budget since becoming Chancellor and announced an extra £22.6 billion in the day-to-day health budget and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget.
The funding was welcomed by DAUK chair Ms Helen Fernandes, who said it was desperately needed after more than a decade of austerity and underinvestment.
Ms Fernandes said: “The news of extra funding is a welcome step in the right direction.
“But it’s going to take sustained long-term investment to put right the years of austerity and cuts.
Budget 2024
“As a result of that underfunding there are issues regarding pay, working conditions, staff shortages, training, access to jobs, buildings and estates, the list goes on.
“And the Government also needs to sort out social care. As Lord Darzi said in his review, the dire state of social care is one of the reasons the NHS is in a mess.”
Ms Fernandes expressed concern that the rise in employer national insurance contributions, if extended to general practice, could have ‘dire consequences’ on practices.
Ms Fernandes said: “GP surgeries are struggling to survive, with hundreds already closing their doors, and many general practitioners struggling to find work.
“An increase in employer national insurance costs, if it was to include general practice, could have dire consequences and might well be the expense that makes many unviable.
“A rise in employer costs is also likely to have an impact on recruitment and retention in social care, which in turn would have a detrimental effect on hospital admissions, discharges, and waiting lists.
“The same with the rise in the national minimum wage. Of course we want to see people paid properly for the work they do, but it could have unintended consequences for general practice and social care.”
Primary care
DAUK’s GP lead Dr Lizzie Toberty said a large proportion of the new funding announced by the Chancellor should be directed towards primary care to help ease the pressure on hospitals and to move care to community settings.
Dr Toberty said: “Following the Darzi Report and Wes Streeting’s stated desire to move care from hospitals to community, the money has to be spent in primary care.
“Darzi said GPs had been the most fiscally responsible group within the NHS. Yet somehow we now have the utter catastrophe of qualified GPs without employment while patients are desperate to see a general practitioner.
“Let’s get them back to work by investing funds in core general practice work.”
Dr Toberty said the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) needed reforming.
She said: “Millions of pounds of ARRS funding is sent back to the Treasury unspent every year. The Government needs to move ARRS into core funding.
“We don’t need more GPs, we need employment for the ones we’ve got.
“There also needs to be a shift from recruitment to retention. Reward NHS staff who stay firmly rooted in their communities and who provide the continuity which ultimately provides the most financially efficient and effective way to provide patient care.
Vital investment
“Investment is vital but money needs to be spent in the right places.”
Dr Toberty added: “They also cannot focus on one size fits all solutions.
“They need to trust local health systems to organise their own solutions without absurd rules set by Whitehall.
“If they did this patients could see improvements in their access to a GP within weeks, presuming pre-employment checks could be carried out quickly.”
And Dr Toberty said there needed to be a ‘huge shift’ in how the NHS values staff.
She said: “Lord Darzi talked about loss of discretionary effort because staff
“All the new scanners and surgical hubs require staff, not only to recruit but to retain.
“The NHS has a poor reputation in this regard.
“What is the government going to do to look after and value the staff they have?”
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