The Health Foundation responds to Health Select Committee report on spending review

Responding to the Health Select Committee’s report, Impact of the Spending Review on Health and Social Care, Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and Economics at the Health Foundation, said:

'We agree entirely with the HSC's findings. In particular, that the spending review does not meet the government's commitment to adequately fund the NHS Five Year Forward View, with cuts to public health and health education funding short-sighted, and social care pressures not fully addressed.

'The NHS is already facing its most austere decade ever. The impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU – not a major consideration in the HSC’s report because the timing pre-dated the vote – will only worsen the situation outlined by the HSC.

'Our new analysis shows that the economic fallout from leaving the EU poses serious risks to NHS finances. If the government aims to balance the books, the NHS budget could be £2.8bn lower than currently planned in 2019/20. In the longer term, the funding shortfall could be as high as £28bn by 2030/31. To avoid this would require higher taxes, cuts to other areas of public spending or a longer period of austerity.

'If the NHS is to sustain high quality health care for the long term, a fully coordinated national plan covering funding and workforce must be a top priority for the government under our new Prime Minister. We hope this will be a focus of the "resetting" announcement due later this week.'

Notes to editors:

Media contact
Jenny Rushforth
jenny.rushforth@health.org.uk
T: 020 7257 8047
M: 0781 802 5507

Additional information

• The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK.
• Read our response to the 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review