Government will have to make tough choices at upcoming budget

Responding to the latest NHS performance data, Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analyst at The King’s Fund, said: 

‘The NHS is approaching winter in bad shape. Industrial action is continuing, financial pressures are rising, and important performance targets continue to be missed. Despite the hard work of staff, patient care in the NHS continues to fall short of expectations. 

‘Today’s statistics show it has been three years since A&E performance was above the current temporary target of 78% of people waiting under four hours, and nearly a decade since the official target of 95% of people being seen in four hours was met. It has been four years since the 18-minute target for the average ambulance response time to conditions such as strokes and heart attacks was met.     

‘The government has made its diagnosis that the NHS is broken, now it must fix it. There have been some reports that the NHS will be at the centre of the upcoming Budget, but against a backdrop of constrained public finances, the proof will be in the pudding of how far the government is willing to go to support health and care services ahead of next year’s multi-year spending review.

‘While sticking plasters are not the solution to the crises facing the NHS, without an injection of more resources to get through the next few months and provide seeds of hope for the coming year, NHS services will have to make harsh trade-offs between immediate winter preparations and longer-term improvement. NHS leaders have already raised concerns about the impact of recruitment freezes on the quality of patient care, and those concerns will only increase as pressures mount over winter. 

‘The Autumn Budget is a significant moment for this government. To govern is to choose, and ministers have some tough choices about how they will balance their significant ambitions to improve health services with the reality of tight public finances.’ 

Notes to editors

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The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. We help to shape policy and practice through research and analysis; develop individuals, teams and organisations; promote understanding of the health and social care system; and bring people together to learn, share knowledge and debate. Our vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.