Chancellor Rachel Reeves handed the NHS a £22.6 billion boost in yesterday's Budget, calling it the "largest real-terms growth in day-to-day NHS spending outside of Covid since 2010."
While this injection of funds is larger than expected and positions health as a key winner in the Budget, experts warn that the impact is unlikely to be felt by patients.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) budget will see a 3.8 per cent real-terms increase in 2025-2026. However, according to King's Fund expert Siva Anandaciva, while this money will help maintain NHS services, it is "unlikely to drastically improve care over the rest of this year, and certainly not overnight."
A significant portion of the funds allocated to day-to-day spending will go towards covering new staff pay deals, for example.
The increase in capital spending is more substantial. However, when compared to the £13.8 billion needed to repair hospital buildings alone, the actual impact will be "modest," said Mr Anandaciva.
As is often the case, social care remains neglected. Reeves has only announced a £600 million grant for social care, far short of the £1.1 billion reforms she scrapped.
This funding will barely make a dent in the sector. And, as those familiar with the inner workings of the NHS know, the state of social care has a direct impact on NHS pressures. Dr Rhidian Hughes, chief executive of the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) which represents more than 100 disability charities, said: "The government continue to support previously planned cuts to disability benefit and provide lacklustre investment in social care, which will do very little to give third sector providers the long-term stability they need."
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