Health leaders warn Jeremy Hunt against further cuts to healthcare
On his third day in the job, Mr Hunt, a former health secretary, said he was ‘not taking anything off the table’.
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Your support makes all the difference.Health leaders have warned the new chancellor that making “difficult decisions” for NHS funding “risks having major consequences for patient care”.
Jeremy Hunt has insisted fresh “efficiency savings” will need to be made to address the country’s economic issues, but declined to get into specifics about potential new cuts or what promises could be axed in a bid to save money.
On his third day in the job Mr Hunt, who is a former health secretary, said he was “not taking anything off the table”.
He told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I’m not taking anything off the table. I want to keep as many of those tax cuts as I possibly can because our long-term health depends on being a low-tax economy. And I very strongly believe that.”
Asked about public trust in the Tories to bring stability, he said: “I want people to know that we are going to make those difficult decisions in lots of areas, going to affect lots of walks of life, in order to do everything we can as a Government to bring back that stability.”
But NHS Providers, the membership organisation for NHS trusts, warned that enforcing further efficiencies on the health service would be “incredibly difficult to manage” and could result in more delays within an already under-pressure system.
The organisation’s interim chief executive, Saffron Cordery, said: “Leaders across the NHS recognise the need to regain economic and financial stability given the turmoil of recent weeks, but the new chancellor will know better than most that making difficult decisions for NHS funding risks having major consequences for patient care.
Ahead of any difficult decisions, we must consider the impact on health and social care
“Trust leaders are already making difficult decisions every day, as they grapple with funding for public services that are diminishing daily due to soaring inflation, the cost of pay awards not fully funded by the government and cuts in funding to deal with the ongoing costs of Covid-19.
“These vital services are managing Covid, workforce shortages, major waiting lists, and spiralling demand as we head into what’s expected to be an incredibly challenging winter.
“Enforcing further efficiencies will be incredibly difficult to manage, and we are concerned this could further delay access to treatments at a time when trusts are doing everything they can to navigate these challenges.
“Ahead of any difficult decisions, we must consider the impact on health and social care.”
The Royal College of Nursing insisted the need to invest in the NHS and social care system has never been greater, and that enforcing cuts “does not make sense”.
Pat Cullen, the college’s general secretary and chief executive, said: “If the new chancellor is serious about spending money more wisely, then he must invest in the nursing workforce.
“Asking the Department of Health to make yet more efficiencies – in order words, to cut costs – when the need to invest in the NHS and social care is greater than ever, does not make sense.
“Mr Hunt must put patients first. The nursing workforce crisis is undermining safe patient care and with many choosing to leave the profession for better paid jobs elsewhere, the need to pay a demoralised and unvalued profession fairly could not be more pressing.
“These considerations must be uppermost in Mr Hunt’s mind as he announces the Government’s economic reset.”