The government has announced some details of its plan to increase the number of NHS hospital appointments and procedures in England by 40,000 per week. This includes £1.5bn investment in equipment and buildings for the NHS, including money for surgical hubs, new scanners and radiotherapy machines.
Health experts have welcomed the new funding but warned there were many unanswered questions about future policy with the government’s 10-year NHS plan not published until next spring. Full details of the government's funding plans will come in Wednesday's Budget. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has repeatedly said "the NHS is broken" since taking on the role in the summer.
The latest waiting time figures for the NHS in England show the backlog for hospital care is 7.64 million . Before the pandemic, it was just over four million.
In August, more than 280,000 people had been waiting for an operation, scan or appointment for more than a year. And last month, a damning report warned that the NHS in England was in a "critical condition", falling well short of its key targets for cancer, emergency (A&E) and hospital treatment. Soon after the election, the new government allocated £1.
8bn to cover work by hospitals in England to reduce waiting lists for planned treatment and appointments. That was new money from the Treasury. The chancellor has said more funding will be provided to help the NHS deliver the extra 40,000 appointments and procedures per week, promised in the Labour manife.
