Studentnomics

The NHS is a vital pillar of British society and stands as one of our most
indispensable public services. Being tied to the state, and state funded, a decline in the economy of Britain constitutes insurmountable challenges for the NHS, especially for those who are unable to afford private healthcare.

Currently, the NHS’ money comes from taxation and from National Insurance Contributions as well a small portion from charges for services such as prescriptions and some dental treatments, gaining the entirety of its budget from the Department of Health and Social Care’s budget – which had £155.1 billion for the NHS in 2022/23. There is a growing issue surrounding the funding increase per year. Although there has been a noticeable funding increase every year(a vitality considering soaring inflation), the percentage increase per year in the last decade (2010’s) has become less than a third of the average increase in the 2000s- being on average only around 1.7 % per year. This trend of decreasing increases in spending helped to grow a crisis where capacity could not grow in accordance with demand for services. In a country which has an aging and growing populace and where new more expensive treatments rise as preferred options of care, this deficit of funding brews an extraordinary and catastrophic increase in waiting times in A&E, for electives and even for referrals to other clinics. Just to amend these tremendous backlogs, vast sums of money would need to be provided. To start to fix the backlog of electives which could be up to 15 million patients by the end of 2025 would cost £2bn on its own, being in itself a huge logistical operation.

In addition to this, the strikes which have taken course throughout this year, as well as the rising inflation could see the NHS overspending by £7bn in 2024. Just as in previous years the budget has been more of a guideline than an ultimatum due to the essential requirement of certain equipment in a hospital, which save lives and cannot be cut (£87.4>£85.3bn in the fiscal year of 2018/19). Fostered by unfeasible and unrealistic assumptions about the requirements of the NHS, cuts in financial expenditure have to be made and the backlog builds up, leading to more than 23,000 excess deaths in England in A&E.

It is clear to see that the woeful state of the NHS financially is a matter that needs
to be addressed urgently. Although I am able to acknowledge the myriad of
financial issues which the country is facing due to inflation, strikes,
unemployment etc. and the difficulties surrounding managing these, I feel it is the responsibility of the government to take ownership of this issue and take drastic steps to mend it (more than is currently being done), to keep the NHS ,as Aneurin Bevan so rightly put, ‘as a testament to the value we place on human life’ rather than a shortcoming of the country, with nothing to show but corridors full of full beds.

References:
Checking the NHS’s reality: the true state of the health service’s finances. Available at: https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/checking-the-nhs-reality-the-true-state-of-thehealth-services-finances.

NHS sinks into £7bn cash crisis as inflation and strikes bite (2023) The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/17/nhs-sinks-into-7bn-cash-crisis-as-inflation-and-strikes-bite (Accessed: 30 October 2023).

Hoddinott, S. (Jan.2023) The NHS crisis – institute for government. Available at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-01/NHS-crisis-does-government-have-a-plan.pdf?ref=health-policy-insight (Accessed: 30 October 2023).

The NHS budget and how it has changed (2023) The King’s Fund. Available at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-budget#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20NHS%20budget,as%20staff%20salaries%20and%20medicines. (Accessed: 30 October 2023).

Ford, J. (no date) The NHS is facing a deepening financial crisis – the BMJ. Available at:
https://www.bmj.com/bmj/section-pdf/724776path=/bmj/347/7916/Observations.full.pdf
(Accessed: 30 October 2023)