Plans to cut £305 million from the Bristol area’s NHS funding will result in fewer hospital beds, closure of services and less frontline staff, councillors claim.
Labour councillor Gill Kirk told a council meeting today that the Government was attempting to cut the service’s national funding by £22 billion by 2020. The plans are being rolled out under the name of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), which covers Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
The meeting heard that the plan would involve drastic funding slashes of around £305 million across the local area- and £104 million in cuts has yet to be identified. Mrs Kirk, who represents Lockleaze ward, said that on average, European countries spend 10.1 per cent of their GDP on health. The UK spends 7.3 per cent and this will be cut to just 6.6 per cent by 2020.