The UK government has set out its budget and awarded a £22 billion allocation over two years to health and social care. These funds were desired to address the many essential understatements because the suffering the UK has faced in the past decade is immense.
Whether tackling the number of patients, improving quality and care, or adopting advanced technologies, this funding is understood to relieve the burden and enhance the service offered. Still, when such resources are scarce, setting priorities in spending will be a matter of importance and need.
Read on to find out more.
The Healthcare Budget
This funding boost of £22 billion – part of the general increase in public spending of 3.3% – is intended for use in some much-needed massive improvements of facilities and services by the NHS.
Some of the budget is for urgent and high-priority commitments, including settling pay deals and funding gaps, and the rest includes £1.5 billion for constructing additional surgical hubs and investing in high-quality equipment like the ergonomic surgical retractor, purchasing diagnostic scanners, and buying more beds for capacity topping up.
These funds should enable an additional 40,000 elective procedures to be performed in a week and, most importantly, clear the growing 7.5 million patients on the waiting list.
Moreover, £100 million will go to the 200 GP practice improvement grants across England, which will, within the current areas, enhance productivity and increase the number of available appointments.
With the NHS seeking to attain a 2% efficiency gain of its resources, improvements like these are fundamental to reaching the efficiency objectives of the organisation whilst promoting the reduction in patient waiting times.
Improving Patient Care Through Modernisation
Part of the investment will upgrade existing NHS systems and technology.
The £2 billion the government has set aside for digital transformation is a great proactive move. Still, the NHS needs further funding to modernise its outdated elevating IT solutions. Modernising the NHS with advanced digital devices will help improve the administration of services, eliminate waiting periods in managing patient care, and enhance overall service delivery. Electronic patient records and AI-assisted diagnostics are two areas in which tangible improvements in efficiency and accuracy have already been made.
Another essential focus is making improvements to the patient’s surroundings. Investing in facilities for mental health crises, establishing new hospitals, and developing new forms of care, including virtual wards, can greatly improve the patients’ experience.
Tackling Workforce and Social Care Challenges
Addressing the NHS workforce crisis is one of the most difficult to achieve in the system.
Although pay deals form a large portion of the budget, this must be complemented by further investment into recruitment, retention, and training. The latest increase in the National Living Wage and higher thresholds of Carer Allowance is good progress, but treating staff with respect and increasing the training programs for essential positions such as nurses and paramedics will be important as well.
Social care is a massive issue that leads to delays in the discharge of hospitals and is sidelined. The allocated social care funds of £600 million are encouraging but fail to address the problem caused by years of underfunding.
The £22 billion budget is massive, but is it big enough? It’ll be interesting to see whether we finally have a reform of our healthcare system! Something needs to change if the NHS wants to survive.