The King's Fund warns of a toxic cocktail of pressures on the NHS this winter
Siva Anandaciva, Director of Policy, Partnerships and Events at The King’s Fund, said:
‘The NHS is facing a toxic cocktail of pressures this winter. Immediate issues such as long waiting lists and overcrowded hospitals have been made worse due to the poor weather and rising flu and respiratory conditions. And then there are a host of chronic long-term issues, including endemic staff shortages, deteriorating buildings and broken equipment, such as slow scanners, broken lifts and leaking roofs.
‘Parts of the NHS are trying to run a 21st-century health service from crumbling buildings which pre-date the NHS and are not fit for purpose. Recent NHS backlog data shows that £13.8 billion would be needed just to restore buildings and equipment to acceptable levels. It’s a sorry situation that is bad for patients and bad for taxpayers, and the poor physical state of the NHS is becoming a severe hindrance to health service productivity.
‘The government’s ten-year plan for health has been set up to outline NHS reform, but in reality there is little that can be done at this stage in winter to relieve the pressures, especially as flooded wards and collapsing roofs have taken out significant chunks of hospital capacity.
‘The decaying NHS estate is not just a hospital issue, it is also plaguing primary care services. The government has said it wants to deliver care in the community, but many GP practices and other settings do not have the space to expand or to offer more tests and services. In fact, an estimated 20% of the primary care estate pre-dates the founding of the NHS and 53% is more than 30 years old.
‘Fixing buildings and bringing down waiting times must be high on any to-do list, but this must not come at the expense of supporting people to stay healthy and out of hospital.
‘The government has said it wants to create a new health service focused on preventing illness, but it may be there isn't enough funding to tackle both the immediate pressures and to invest in and bolster services within the community. In which case the government needs to be honest with the public about what standard of care it can expect to receive in the interim.’
Notes to editors
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