Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed a new £1.8 billion NHS cash injection to help improve patient care.
More beds, new cutting-edge equipment and additional wards will be delivered at hospitals across the country, as the Prime Minister confirms a new £1.8 billion NHS cash injection.
Visiting a Lincolnshire hospital on 5 August 2019, Boris Johnson announced the 20 hospitals set to share £850 million of new funding to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment – helping improve patient care and ultimately save more lives.
The Prime Minister also confirmed a £1 billion boost to NHS capital spending, allowing existing upgrade programmes to proceed and tackling the most urgent infrastructure projects.
According to www.gov.uk, the Health Secretary will also set out further changes to the NHS pension scheme to support senior doctors and GPs taking on extra shifts.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "The NHS is always there for us – free at the point of use for everyone in the country.
"With our doctors and nurses working tirelessly day in day out, this treasured institution truly showcases the very best of Britain.
"That’s why I made it my immediate task to make sure frontline services have the funding they need, to make a real difference to the lives of NHS staff, and above all, of patients."
After delivering his promise of a £1.8 billion cash injection, the Prime Minister added: "It’s time to face up to this challenge and make sure the NHS receives the funds it needs, to continue being the best healthcare service in the world."
The announcement delivers on the Prime Minister’s pledge when entering Downing Street to urgently upgrade 20 hospitals, and ensure money invested in the NHS is reaching the frontline as soon as possible.
The £1.8 billion funding is in addition to the extra £33.9 billion, in cash terms, the NHS is set to receive every year by 2023/24 through the Long Term Plan agreed last year. Over £1 bn of this will be spent this year, meaning an annual increase in the NHS’s capital budget of 30%.
The devolved administrations will receive additional Barnett funding in the normal way; indicative allocations are around £110 m for Wales, £180 m for Scotland and £60 m for Northern Ireland.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid said: "Thanks to the hard work of the British people, and the fundamental strength of our economy, we’re in a position to further increase funding for our NHS, ensuring quick access to quality healthcare for those who need it.
"This £1.8 b for frontline services will not just go towards better equipment and technology, but important upgrades of hospitals across the country."
Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said: "I love the NHS - and so do the millions of taxpayers and their families cared for by our NHS every month. We owe it to them to make sure they can get the best treatment in the best hospitals.
"On top of the extra £33.9 billion a year we are giving the NHS, today we are making a downpayment for the future of NHS buildings and facilities, with a £1.8 bn fund to revitalise our hospitals and immediate funding for bigger wards, better mental health units, and state of the art children’s hospitals in areas that need them the most.
"This is just the start of our Health Infrastructure Plan, with patients set to see and feel the benefits for years to come."
Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, said: "This is a significant start to the much needed capital investment so that our nurses, doctors and other NHS staff will be able to care for their patients in modern facilities with state of the art equipment.
"The concrete steps being set out this week will mean investment flows directly to frontline services, providing new clinics and wards. As they come on line, as part of our NHS Long Term Plan, patients will benefit from reduced waits for treatment and wider upgrades to the quality of care the health service is able to offer."
However, president of the Royal College of Physicians, Professor Andrew Goddard, said:
“While 20 more hospitals may seem a significant investment, it is unfortunately a drop in the ocean. Research by the Health Foundation estimates it would take an extra £3.5bn a year to bring capital spending on the health service in England up to the OECD average.
“Today’s announcement is certainly a small step in the right direction, but it’s a far cry from the great leap it will take to save our health service.”
The 20 hospitals set to be upgraded, at a cost of £850 million, include:
East of England
- Luton & Dunstable University Hospital NHS FT – £99.5 million for a new block in Luton to provide critical and intensive care, as well as a delivery suite and operating theatres
- Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS FT – £69.7 million to provide Diagnostic and Assessment Centres in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn to aid rapid diagnosis and assessment of cancer and non-cancerous disease
- Norfolk and Suffolk NHS FT – £40 million to build 4 new hospital wards in Norwich, providing 80 beds
- NHS South Norfolk CCG – £25.2 million to develop and improve primary care services in South Norfolk.
Midlands
- University Hospitals Birmingham – £97.1 million to provide a new purpose built hospital facility in Birmingham, replacing outdated outpatient, treatment and diagnostic accommodation
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust – £21.3 million to improve patient flow in Boston by developing urgent and emergency care zones in A&E
- Wye Valley NHS Trust – £23.6 million to provide new hospital wards in Hereford, providing 72 beds
- University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust – £17.6 million to create 3 new modern wards to improve capacity and patient flow in Stoke, delivering approximately 84 beds for this winter.
London
- Barking, Havering and Redbridge CCGs and North East London NHS Foundation Trust – £17 million to develop a new health and wellbeing hub in North East London
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust – £12.7 million to extend and refurbish critical care units at the Croydon University Hospital, Croydon.
North East and Yorkshire
- South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System – £57.5 million for primary Care investment across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £41.7 million to improve Paediatric Cardiac Services in the North East
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – £12 million to provide a single Laboratory Information Management System across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, covering all pathology disciplines.
North West
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – £72.3 million to build a new adult mental health inpatient unit in Manchester
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust – £33 million to provide a new 40 bed low secure unit for people with learning disabilities
- Stockport NHS FT – £30.6 million to provide a new Emergency Care Campus Development at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, incorporating an Urgent Treatment Centre, GP assessment unit and Planned Investigation Unit
- NHS Wirral CCG – £18 million to improve patient flow in Wirral by improving access via the Urgent Treatment Centre
- Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust – £16.3 million to provide Emergency and urgent care facilities at Tameside General Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne.
South East
- Isle of Wight NHS Trust – £48 million to redesign acute services for Isle of Wight residents.
South West
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – £99.9 million to build a new Women’s and Children’s Hospital in the centre of the Royal Cornwall Hospital site in Truro.
