Controversial plans to transform and integrate health and social care services require at least £9.5bn of capital funding – but NHS leaders don’t have the cash and will ask for demands to be ‘reviewed’ and ‘refined’.
A BMA investigation into the 44 STPs (sustainability and transformation plans) in England has revealed the vast sums needed just to create the infrastructure to deliver the projects, with costly building projects and investment in community facilities vital to the plans.
Each part of England was asked to draw up their plan last year in a bid to make savings of £26bn by 2020/21 – but the process has been mired in lack of engagement and criticisms over the quality of final draft plans.
Following a series of Freedom of Information requests, the BMA has found that NHS leaders are unlikely to have anything like the capital required to deliver the projects, with budgets under ‘significant pressure’.
National staff are now sifting through the plans to work out which ‘small to medium scale’ projects can be funded and implemented over the ‘next few years’ – and are working with local areas to ‘review’ and ‘refine’ capital demands.
Full story on the BMA website, 14 February 2017