Chancellor defends NHS funding stance
Thursday, 23 Mar 2006 17:29
Chancellor defends NHS funding stance
Gordon Brown has today defended the government's position after it came in for fierce criticism for neglecting the NHS.
The chancellor made little reference to the health service in his Budget speech yesterday, leading many critics to suggest that the NHS had been abandoned during a time of major financial upheaval.
But Mr Brown insists that the NHS will receive £6 billion of extra investment this year and a similar amount the year after, but reiterated the government's stance that overspending by hospital trusts must be dealt with.
His comments come after another NHS trust today reported that it was likely to cut staff numbers to save money.
County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said that as many as 700 jobs may be cut over the next few years, an announcement that came less than 24 hours after a similar one by the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead.
The north London hospital yesterday said it is to axe about 480 jobs in a cost-cutting exercise aimed at saving £25 million next year – the fifth trust to announce job cuts in recent weeks.
Chief executive Andrew Way said: "We must achieve financial balance if we are to control our own future as the government has made it very clear that they will not bail out organisations which fail to do so."
On the Today programme this morning, Mr Brown responded to such staff cuts by saying: "It is our duty to have more value for money."
"There is more money going to hospital trusts next year and the year after, and we will help them as they try to sort out what is inevitable in some cases…but where there are long term deficits we have got to help sort that out," he added.
But the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have accused the government of abandoning the health service.
"One year ago, ministers were heralding NHS staff as the heroes who were delivering on waiting list targets," shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said last night
"Today, they are silent as the same NHS staff are threatened with redundancy. Gordon Brown said nothing of the NHS in his budget.
"Faced with the failure of his billions to deliver corresponding improvements for patients, Gordon Brown and the Treasury have abandoned the NHS."
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Steve Webb added: "This is a problem of the government’s own making.
"Trusts need time to adjust to the new financial regime in the NHS. They are being forced to sort out years of financial imbalances in a matter of weeks."
