PM announces extra £1.8 billion ‘for NHS frontline services’

• Aug 05, 2019

Boris Johnson also confirmed a £1 billion ‘boost to NHS capital spending, allowing existing upgrade programmes to proceed and tackling the most urgent infrastructure projects’.

Ahead of his visit to Lincolnshire, the Prime Minister said: “The NHS is always there for us – free at the point of use for everyone in the country. With our doctors and nurses working tirelessly day in, day out, this treasured institution truly showcases the very best of Britain. That’s why I made it my immediate task to make sure frontline services have the funding they need, to make a real difference to the lives of NHS staff, and, above all, of patients. Today I’m delivering on this promise with a £1.8 billion cash injection – meaning more beds, new wards, and extra life-saving equipment to ensure patients continue to receive world-class care.”

The Department of Health and Social Care emphasised that the £1.8 billion infunding was in addition to the extra £33.9 billion, in cash terms, that the NHS is set to receive every year by 2023/24 through the Long Term Plan agreed last year. Over £1 billion of this will be spent this year, meaning an annual increase in the NHS’s capital budget of 30%, the Department said. The devolved administrations will receive additional Barnett funding in the normal way; indicative allocations are around £110 m for Wales, £180 m for Scotland, and £60 m for Northern Ireland.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock said: “On top of the extra £33.9 bn a year we are giving the NHS, today, we’re making a ‘down payment’ for the future of NHS buildings and facilities, with a £1.8 billion fund to revitalise our hospitals and immediate funding for bigger wards, better mental health units, and state of the art children’s hospitals in areas that need them the most. This is just the start of our Health Infrastructure Plan, with patients set to see and feel the benefits for years to come.”

The 20 hospitals set to be upgraded, at a cost of £850 million, include:

East of England:

• Luton & Dunstable University Hospital NHS FT – £99.5 m for a new block in Luton to provide critical and intensive care, as well as a delivery suite and operating theatres.
• Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS FT – £69.7 m to provide Diagnostic and Assessment Centres in Norwich, Great Yarmouth, and King’s Lynn to aid rapid diagnosis and assessment of cancer and non-cancerous disease.
• Norfolk and Suffolk NHS FT – £40 m to build four new hospital wards in Norwich, providing 80 beds.
• NHS South Norfolk CCG – £25.2 m to develop and improve primary care services in South Norfolk.

Midlands:

• University Hospitals Birmingham – £97.1 m to provide a new purpose-built hospital facility in Birmingham, ‘replacing outdated outpatient, treatment, and diagnostic accommodation’.
• United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust – £21.3 m to improve patient flow in Boston by developing urgent and emergency care zones in A&E.
• Wye Valley NHS Trust – £23.6 m to provide new hospital wards in Hereford, providing 72 beds.
• University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust – £17.6 m to create three new modern wards to improve capacity and patient flow in Stoke, delivering approximately 84 beds for this winter.

London:

• Barking, Havering and Redbridge CCGs and North East London NHS Foundation Trust – £17 m to develop a new health and wellbeing hub in North East London.
• Croydon Health Services NHS Trust – £12.7 million to extend and refurbish critical care units at the Croydon University Hospital, Croydon.

North East and Yorkshire:

• South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System – £57.5 m for primary care investment across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.
• The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £41.7 m to improve Paediatric Cardiac Services in the North East.
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – £12 m to provide a single Laboratory Information Management System across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, covering all pathology disciplines.

North-West England:

• Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – £72.3 m to build a new adult mental health inpatient unit in Manchester.
• Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust – £33 m to provide a new 40-bed low secure unit for people with learning disabilities.
• Stockport NHS FT – £30.6 m to provide a new Emergency Care Campus Development at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, incorporating an Urgent Treatment Centre, GP assessment unit, and Planned Investigation Unit.
• NHS Wirral CCG – £18 m to improve patient flow in Wirral by improving access via the Urgent Treatment Centre.
• Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust – £16.3 m to provide Emergency and urgent care facilities at Tameside General Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne.

South East:

• Isle of Wight NHS Trust – £48 m to redesign acute services for Isle of Wight residents.

South West:

• Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – £99.9 mi to build a new Women’s and Children’s Hospital in the centre of the Royal Cornwall Hospital site in Truro.