NHS cash crisis is worst since its creation in 1948 - and we face £12.4bn black hole by 2020 under Tories

The system is now 'well and truly beyond its breaking point' according to doctors and even Theresa May's promised cash won't be enough to plug the gap

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ByAndrew Gregory

• 22:16, 5 JUN 2017

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A mother and her family seen here living in one room of a Liverpool Terrace slum in 1948 (Photo: mirrorpix)

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The NHS is “well and truly at breaking point” after the worst decade of funding since its launch in 1948, experts warn.
Doctors said the squeeze has left patients suffering “unacceptably long delays” for care in a system that “can no longer cope”.
And the Health Foundation stressed that if Theresa May wins on Thursday, the NHS faces a £12.4billion black hole by 2020.
The independent think-tank says £140.8billion is needed in 2020/21 and even with the extra cash the Prime Minister is promising, there will be just £128.4billion.
Professor Anita Charlesworth, Health Foundation director of research and economics, said: “Since 2010, NHS funding has not kept pace with demands placed on hospitals and community services.”
A Health Foundation analysis of official figures for the Daily Mirror reveals that by 2020/21, the average 10-year percentage increase in health spending will have dropped to just 1.1%.

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Professor Anita Charlesworth says funding has not kept pace with demands

All of the major parties have pledged more cash. But following seven years of Tory cuts, the NHS is now in such a precarious position none of them would be able to plug the gap by 2020.
Prof Charlesworth said: “Whoever wins the election, promised spending for the NHS will still mean this is the decade – 2009/10 to 2020/21 – with the lowest rate of funding growth in the service’s history.”
The group analysed pledges in the three major party manifestos and found by 2020/21, the NHS faces a funding gap of £7billion under Labour and £9.2billion under the Lib Dems.
And it warned that the Tories would heap even more cuts on their £12.4billion gap.
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Protesters march with banners and placards against private companies' involvement in the National Health Service (Photo: AFP)

Prof Charlesworth, a former director of public spending at the Treasury, said: “Under Conservatives plans, funding would not match demand and cost pressure. A £12billion gap by 2020/21 would require the NHS to continue to deliver major efficiency savings.”
The waiting list for NHS treatment soared to 3.7million this year, up from 2.4million in 2010. And the gold standard of 95% of patients being seen within four hours at A&E has been missed every single month since July 2015.

The NHS faces a funding gap of £7billion under Labour and £9.2billion under the Lib Dems (Photo: Getty)

Dr Mark Porter, chair of the British Medical Association and Britain’s most senior doctor, said: “The NHS is struggling to cope with unprecedented rising demand against a backdrop of crippling financial restraint.
“Cuts to acute beds and chronic underfunding of health and social care has resulted in patients facing unacceptably long delays, compromising the safety and quality of care patients receive.

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Doctors despair of the situation in the NHS (Photo: Getty Images)

“With bed occupancy at record highs and patients unable to reliably access general practice, the NHS is well and truly at breaking point. Our health and social care systems can no longer cope without urgent action.
“We are asking whoever wins the next election to, as a minimum, immediately bring investment in line with other leading European countries and outline credible, long-term plans.”
Dr Porter also warned we are “going backwards” on public health and £200million of cuts to budgets mean we face a public health “ticking time bomb”.
Experts agree that investing in public health is cost-effective as it means the NHS does not have to treat conditions like obesity and smoking-related illnesses. But budgets face £400million of further cuts up to 2020/21.

Labour will invest more in the service (Photo: AFP)

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has pledged an extra £8billion for the NHS and argued investment depends on a strong economy, with Theresa May best-placed to negotiate a good Brexit deal.
But analysis of the Tory manifesto shows spending plans for 2017/18 will not change from the current goal to spend £124billion.
Under Labour, spending in 2017/18 would rise to £130billion.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “The choice is clear: substantial investment in the NHS with Labour, or more of the same under the Tories – a big funding squeeze and deteriorating standards of care.”
Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said: “These figures show our NHS can’t take another five years of Conservative underfunding. We will put a penny on income tax to raise an extra £6billion for the NHS and care.”