Responding to news from the Department of Health, predicting a surplus of £1.735 billion in the NHS, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has issued a statement that this must be directed straight into frontline services.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary, commented: “A £1.7 billion surplus is £1.7 billion which could have been spent on improving patient care, and the Government must make clear what it plans to do with this money. It is particularly important that NHS spending is sustained through the economic downturn, and that funding intended for healthcare does not get diverted. During the downturn, we know that health can suffer and the NHS must be fit to deal with this.”
