The Observer reports that negotiations over extra money for the NHS have hit an impasse, with both sides nowhere near an agreement. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has refused to give the NHS an extra £10 billion, despite saying the government will give the NHS “whatever it needs”. As a result NHS chiefs have warned that without the money the NHS will be left unprepared for next winter and the second spike in infections which doctors believe is inevitable. Nor will they be able to restart non-Covid services or treat the growing backlog in patients needing surgery.
The sticking point is the NHS’s insistence that the Treasury continues to underwrite the £400m-a-month cost of the contract it agreed with private hospitals in March to treat NHS patients.
Full story in The Observer, 4 July 2020