Local MP, Caroline Dinenage, has today welcomed news that the Government is putting another £1.8 billion into the NHS for vital new kit for nurses and doctors and upgrading 20 hospitals across the UK.
This week the Prime Minister confirmed an extra £1.8 billion for NHS frontline services, helping deliver more beds, new cutting-edge equipment and additional wards at hospitals across the country.
Nationwide, 20 hospitals will benefit from £850 million of new funding to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment, meaning new intensive care wards, children’s units and new mental health facilities.
The Government will also be providing a £1 billion boost to NHS capital spending which will allow existing upgrade programmes to proceed and tackle the most urgent infrastructure projects.
This funding, a first step in making sure that money gets to the frontline, is in addition to the extra £33.9 bullion, in cash terms the NHS is set to receive every year by 2023-24 through the Government’s Long Term Plan for the NHS.
Over £1 billion of this will be spent this year, meaning an annual increase in the NHS’s capital budget of 30%.
Caroline Dinenage commented:
“I am pleased to see the NHS receive a well needed funding boost, so it can continue to provide an excellent service to patients.
The NHS is a remarkable system that should be a continuous priority for the Government, I am sure this is the beginning of many more advancements of the NHS.”
Later this week, the Health Secretary will also set out further changes to the NHS pension scheme to support senior doctors and GPs taking on extra shifts.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said:
“The NHS is always there for us – free at the point of use for everyone in the country.
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.
It’s time to face up to this challenge and make sure the NHS receives the funds it needs, to continue being the best healthcare service in the world.”