Boris Johnson has recently announced £1.8 billion injection into the NHS, and has pledged more than £110 million to go into primary care projects. The funding will reach projects such as:
- £25 million to develop primary care services in NHS South Norfolk CCG
- £17 million for Barking, Havering and Redbridge CCGs and North East London NHS Foundation Trust to develop new health and well-being hub in North London
- An investment worth £57.5 million for primary care in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw
- £18 million for NHS Wirral CCG to help ‘patient flow’ by improving access via the urgent treatment centre.
There is a lot of scepticism as to whether the money is “new” money, as claimed by Johnson. Senior analyst at Nuffield Trust, Sally Gainsbury, posted on social media: “BBC reports extra £1bn for NHS capital spending this yr. There’s a catch: The £1bn is cash hospitals and other NHS trusts already have but have been forbidden to spend. They earned it last yr in incentive payments for cutting their costs”.
Full story in Pulse, 5 August 2019