NHS finances

Our work on NHS funding, budgets and finances

Key facts and figures about the NHS

Data visualisation

Key facts and figures about the NHS

What's the NHS annual budget? How many doctors and nurses are there? What's the cost of an operation? We answer some of the most frequently asked questions we receive about health and social care.

The NHS 10-year plan: how should the extra funding be spent?

The government has announced increases in NHS funding and has asked the NHS to come up with a 10-year plan for how this funding will be used. After eight years of austerity, there is now an opportunity to tackle the issues that matter most to patients and communities and to improve health and care.

Spending on and availability of health care resources: how does the UK compare to other countries?

The recent announcement by the Prime Minister to bring forward a new long-term funding settlement for the NHS means it is timely to look at how health spending in the UK compares to other countries and how the NHS measures up on some of the key resources this spending pays for.

Rising cost of medicines teaser image

The rising cost of medicines to the NHS: what’s the story?

In the face of rising costs, the NHS is grappling with how to provide access to medicines in an affordable way. Our new briefing explores the NHS’s approach to managing its spending on medicines and choices that policy-makers are likely to face in future.

Financial pressures in the NHS reading list

A selected list of references held by The King's Fund library.

Social care finances: Our work on social care funding, budgets and finance

Productivity: Our work on efficiency, value for money, supply and demand in the NHS