Government invests £200 million of new funding to boost NHS resilience and ensure patients receive the care they need this winter
- £200 million in new funding will help support services through peak months
- Alongside this, £40 million is being invested to bolster social care capacity and improve discharge from hospital
- Funding will ensure patients are seen as quickly as possible, while also driving forward plans to cut waiting lists
The government is investing £200 million to boost resilience in the NHS and help patients get the care they need as quickly as possible this winter.
The new funding announced today comes after the Prime Minister and Health and Social Care Secretary met clinical leaders and NHS chiefs yesterday to drive forward planning to ease pressures in urgent and emergency care while protecting waiting list targets this winter.
Winter is the busiest time for the NHS, with increased pressures from flu, Covid and seasonal illness – combined this year with ongoing pressure from industrial action. That’s why the government has started planning earlier than ever before to ensure patients get the care they need.
The Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan announced earlier this year was backed by £1 billion to boost capacity in the health system by providing 5,000 additional beds, 800 new ambulances and 10,000 virtual wards.
As a result, significant progress has been made – compared to July 2022, Category 2 ambulance response times are now 27 minutes faster, there are 2,500 more general and acute beds and 9,700 virtual ward beds available, and there are 1,500 fewer people stuck in hospital when they are medically fit to be discharged.
That comes on top of the Primary Care Recovery Plan which is freeing up 15 million GP appointments to help end the 8am rush.
The government remains committed to cutting waiting lists – there has been good progress made on the Elective Recovery Plan with 2 year and 18 month waits eliminated so far.
Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: "Patients can be reassured that I will always back the NHS, so that those who most need help and support will get the care they need. Winter is the most challenging time for the health service, which is why we’ve been planning for it all year - with huge government investment to fund new ambulances, beds and virtual wards. This extra £200 million will bolster the health service during its busiest period, while protecting elective care so we can keep cutting waiting lists."
Alongside this, £40 million is being invested to improve social care capacity, strengthen admissions avoidance services and boost discharge rates – targeting the areas with the greatest urgent and emergency care challenges. The funding forms part of the £600 million social care winter workforce package – with local authorities in the most challenged integrated care systems now invited to submit proposals.
Local authorities can bid for the £40 million to help boost adult social care provision over the winter months. They will be able to use the funding to buy more services aimed at keeping people out of hospital as well as more packages of home care which allow people to leave hospital more quickly and build back their independence, such as enabling a carer to come to their home a couple of times a day and helping them with tasks including getting dressed. The funding could also be used to increase the amount of specialist dementia support available in the community, services which also help to keep people out of hospital.
Earlier this month, the government allocated £50 million to local authorities to help older people and those with disabilities live safely and independently in their own homes.
Overall, adaptation grants support 50,000 people a year and help people to be discharged from hospital quicker, cutting waiting times – one of the government’s top five priorities.
This builds on record funding for the NHS and social care, including additional funding already pledged for this winter. In July, the government announced £600 million over the next two years to boost the capacity of the social care workforce and funding for the social care sector this winter and into next year. In August, it announced the allocations of £250 million of capital funding to increase capacity in 30 hospitals across the country. The Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan was backed by £1 billion to provide additional capacity, on top of £1.6 billion of discharge funding over 2023/24 and 2024/25. This was part of the up to £14.1 billion extra funding announced at the Autumn Statement for this year and next, on top of record existing funding.
The government is creating extra capacity, with currently 119 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and 94 surgical hubs open – helping to deliver thousands more checks, scans, tests and operations. As well as being more convenient for patients, CDCs drive efficiency across the NHS by shielding elective diagnostic services from wider hospital pressures.
Last year, the government established the Elective Recovery Taskforce, made up of academics and experts from the NHS and independent sector, to look for ways to go further to bust the Covid backlogs and reduce waiting times for patients. It has since published an implementation plan, including reviewing the use of the independent sector in training junior NHS staff.
Further information
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At the Autumn Statement the government made available more than £14.1 billion for the NHS and social care in this year and next – including £7.5bn to support Adult Social Care and discharge, the biggest funding increase in history.
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The Spring Budget built on that support with further targeted investment:
- £406 million over the next 5 years to support people with some of the most common health problems remain in work or get back into work – including musculoskeletal health conditions, mental health issues, and cardiovascular disease
- £10 million for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) over2023-24 and 2024-25 to accelerate patient access to the most impactful and innovative new treatments
- £10 million of new grant funding across 2023-24 and 2024-25 for Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations to help prevent suicide
- This was followed by the Primary Care Recovery Plan, supported by over £1.2 billion of funding to help tackle the 8am rush at GP surgeries, freeing up GP appointments by funding pharmacists to do more, and providing more GP staff and more appointments.
- And the Long Term Workforce Plan, commissioned by the government to train, retain and reform the workforce, is backed by £2.4 billion to put the NHS on a sustainable footing into the future.
Further information is available here.
