Is Boris Johnson's funding right medicine for NHS?

by LAUREN CODLING

SENIOR doctors and MPs have called for more funding for the NHS as prime minister Boris

Johnson announced the health service would receive £1.8 billion to improve hospital facilities

and equipment.

Last Sunday (4), Johnson said various NHS Trusts across the country would receive the one-off cash boost. Among those set to benefit are medical facilities in Luton, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.

Johnson, who became prime minister last month, promised the funding would provide “more

beds, new wards, and extra lifesaving equipment to ensure patients continue to receive world class care”.

“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,” he said.

Chancellor Sajid Javid added that the money would go towards better equipment and technology, as well as “important upgrades of hospitals across the country”.

However, some have criticised Johnson’s pledge. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the money went “nowhere near paying for all the cuts over the past nine years”, while shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the funds fell “significantly short of what’s needed to provide quality, safe care to patients after years of Tory cuts”.

Speaking to Eastern Eye on Monday (5), Dr Kailash Chand called the promise a “a drop in the ocean compared to what’s needed”.

Dr Chand, honorary vice-president of the British Medical Association (BMA), claimed £1bn was needed “just for the repairs our hospitals and GP surgeries desperately need, let alone the investment needed to address the staff shortages and equipment upgrades.”

Although he acknowledged the funding was a “step forward”, he wanted new investment to be directed to address the “impoverished state” of general practice buildings so there was increased capacity for GP staff and services.

The GP added: “To reverse years of under funding, it is critical for this money to mark the beginning of sustained levels of investment to ensure NHS estates are of the highest standard for delivering the care patients need.”

Meanwhile, Labour MPs Preet Gill and Mohammad Yasin both agreed that although the announcement was welcome, more needed to be done.

Gill, the representative for Birmingham Edgbaston, echoed Chand’s view by referring to the

pledge as a “drop in the ocean”. “It is some way from the £350 million a week for the NHS that Boris Johnson promised on the side of a bus,” she said.

Bedford MP Yasin said he was “delighted” that the funding had been secured, although he remained cynical of the promises made by the government.

“The question is, how long will it take for the money to reach the frontline?” he said, noting a recent video which emerged of the prime minister’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, claiming Conservative MPs “did not care” about “poorer people” or the NHS.

“I’m not convinced anything has changed,” Yasin said. “While on the face of it more funding for our hospital is a good thing, questions remain over whether it will be delivered."

According to Yasin, over 145 announcements had been made in the last two years regarding

new beds, equipment and upgrades to buildings which totalled £2.5bn, but only £100m of it has actually been delivered.

He added: “Add a no-deal Brexit to the mix which will cost the country massively, and these announcements begin to look more like electioneering for a snap election rather than a robust, adequately funded long-term plan to get our NHS back on track.”

However, some Conservatives praised Johnson’s move. Tory MPs Andrew Selous, Andrew

Mitchell and Julian Knight all told Eastern Eye that they welcomed the news.

Selous, a member of the health and social care select committee and MP for South West Bedfordshire, said he was “thrilled” by the spending pledge.

“I have been campaigning for this over several years with the department of health and social

care as well as with the treasury,” Selous said. “These extra facilities will provide critical extra capacity to look after our local population as much-needed new homes continue to be built in our area.”

Mitchell, the representative for Sutton Coldfield, and Knight, who is the MP for Solihull, shared similar sentiments.

Expressing his “delight” regarding the £97.1m allocated to University Hospitals Birmingham, Mitchell said the move “demonstrated the government’s commitment to properly funding our NHS and public services in the royal town”.

Knight added: “I have met and repeatedly lobbied the secretary of state for health and other ministers in order to ensure this project is delivered, and I welcome today’s announcement.”

The £1.8bn cash injection is in addition to the extra £33.9bn that the health service is expected to receive every year by 2023-24 through the NHS Long Term Plan published last year, officials said.