Last week, the new chief executive of NHS England published his report on the state of the NHS and its long term future. It was a welcome report. It concludes that the NHS has improved dramatically in the last few years – the truly shocking spectacle of patients in Mid Staffordshire having to drink water from a flower vase and being neglected in their own filth just over five years ago is something that can never be allowed to happen again and it is right that we have come a long way from the previous situation. But the report also says the NHS can have a better future and that more money spent on improved treatments, and responding to the ageing population, is crucial. Some of this extra spend can come as a result of more efficiencies and slashing unnecessary waste; it can also come as a result of NHS trusts collecting money owed to them by foreign health authorities as a result of foreigners receiving treatment.
The NHS is something we all cherish. It continues to be top of people’s priorities in every survey. That is why this government has introduced reforms that means the NHS has been able to afford 8,000 more doctors, 2,000 more nurses and 1,700 more midwives since 2010. Hospital infections have more than halved, slashing infection rates of C Difficile and MRSA. The problems that created the Mid Staffs, that were allowed to develop, have been tackled by turning around failing hospitals and making the Care Quality Commission much more effective.
Most importantly, we have invested more money in the NHS through ring fencing the NHS budget from any cuts that were necessary as a result of the chronic state of public finances. That means that we will have increased the NHS budget by £12.7 billion in this parliament and intend to do so over the next parliament.
This is important stuff, but to ensure that it is at all possible, the future of the NHS still relies heavily on a successful economy and a proper balance of tax receipts against the cost of running the country – a balanced budget and the removal of the budget deficit.
The report is optimistic and makes clear that the NHS has performed remarkably well under the current government. It cites the English NHS as a remarkable exception to other health systems’ problems. We need to keep up the good work.