Today in Parliament, Lucy Allan MP asked the Health Secrttary about his plans to tackle the backlog in elective care caused by the pandemic.
The House was pleased to hear that following the Chancellor's 2021 Spending Review, NHS England’s day-to-day budget is set to grow by 3.8 per cent on average up to 2024/25, supporting the NHS to tackle the elective backlog, deliver its Long Term Plan and ensure it has the resources needed to fight COVID-19. Spending on health services will increase from £133 billion at the start of this Parliament, to over £177 billion by the end: an increase of over £44 billion. Despite difficult financial circumstances, NHS investment has increased every year since 2010.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented challenge and had a profound impact on the NHS. In addition to more than £97 billion allocated for the COVID-19 response across health and social care up to September 2021, I know that the Government is absolutely committed to supporting the NHS recovery from COVID-19. Over £8 billion will be spent up to 2024/25 to support the delivery of around nine million more checks, scans and procedures. It will also mean the NHS can aim to deliver around 30 per cent more elective activity by 2024-25 than before the pandemic.
Lucy has been a strong advocate of a comprehensive plan to tackle the backlog, as it is one of the major issues raised by constituents in Telford. The Princess Royal will host a new Community Diagnostic Hub to accelerate diagnostics and tackle the backlog.
Lucy also asked the Health Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, about his plans for the future of the NHS workforce.
Lucy was pleased to hear that in the last year alone, the NHS has recruited 10,000 nurses and 5,000 doctors, with more people in medical school than ever before.
The Health Secretary will also soon be receiving a long term workforce plan covering in excess of 10 years to futureproof NHS staffing.
