NHS and social care leaders have written to Chancellor Philip Hammond to demand an end to public sector pay restraint, and asking him to step up the pace of investment in both sectors.
The heads of groups representing the entire NHS, medical royal colleges and a host of UK charities have co-signed a letter to the Treasury in advance of next month’s budget.
The signatories said this was an appeal to the Government to think of health and social care despite the understandable pressures of Brexit negotiations.
It follows assessment from regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which said that front-line services are now in a “precarious condition”.
The letter asks that the £8bn increase to the NHS budget which the Conservative Party committed to over the course of this Parliament should be front-loaded to address immediate pressures.
Analysis by the King’s Fund think-tank has found that the Department of Health budget will increase by £2.8bn in the next three years, with the bulk of the £8bn coming in the final two.
Full story in The Independent, 30 October 2017