Extra billions for NHS largely wasted by Labour
The massive increase in government expenditure on the NHS has not resulted in anything like the level of improvements in the service which might have been expected, according to a study from independent social-policy think-tank Civitas.
Total public spending on the NHS in England has increased from £44.9bn in the first year of the NHS Plan (2000-01) to £76.4bn five years later (2005-06). This represents an increase of just over two thirds in cash terms (70%). In spite of this, according to James Gubb, author of The NHS and the NHS Plan: Is The Extra Money Working?, 'service improvement has in too many areas resembled a country stroll, whereas expenditure has increased at a sprint'.
The standard of health care in Britain remains below that of many other countries despite a massive increase in NHS spending under Labour, according to a report.
The study by Civitas, a centre-Right think-tank, says efforts to improve services in many areas have resembled a "country stroll whereas expenditure has increased at a sprint". It says the lack of progress has been particularly marked in stroke-care and mental health.
Citing data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Civitas says Britain is the only advanced country to have registered virtually no improvement in mortality as a result of stroke-care between 1999 and 2003.
And while hospitals have met their targets, they have often done so at the expense of the most effective methods of health care.
Total expenditure on the NHS in England increased from £44.9 billion in 2000-2001 to £76.4 billion this year. But the UK now ranks 24th out of 27 countries for the number of doctors per head.
The number of surgical procedures undertaken has fallen since 2000, unlike every in other OECD country except Germany.
The report says: "Improvements in the NHS have in no way increased in proportion to the vast sums of money ploughed into it."
Dr Jonathan Fielden, of the British Medical Association's consultants' committee, said it would be wrong to say that money had been "wasted".
But he agreed that the extra funding could have been better spent.
"The fundamental incoherence of current government policies have led to lack of engagement, frustration and low morale among doctors," he said. However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Thanks to record funding and radical reform, NHS patients are receiving better quality care and taxpayers are getting more bang for their buck.
"Our investment has delivered new hospitals, walk-in centres and GP surgeries, more doctors and nurses, and has helped the NHS achieve the [smallest] waiting-lists on record.
"We're now [implementing] plans to deliver £6.5 billion in efficiency savings within two years.
"Reforms like doing more procedures outside of large hospitals, payment by results and encouraging the NHS to share administrative functions, will ensure every extra penny is wisely spent."
Today's update on how Labour is wasting our money is taken from these two links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/14/ncivitas14.xml
http://www.civitas.org.uk/press/recent.php
Total public spending on the NHS in England has increased from £44.9bn in the first year of the NHS Plan (2000-01) to £76.4bn five years later (2005-06). This represents an increase of just over two thirds in cash terms (70%). In spite of this, according to James Gubb, author of The NHS and the NHS Plan: Is The Extra Money Working?, 'service improvement has in too many areas resembled a country stroll, whereas expenditure has increased at a sprint'.
The standard of health care in Britain remains below that of many other countries despite a massive increase in NHS spending under Labour, according to a report.
The study by Civitas, a centre-Right think-tank, says efforts to improve services in many areas have resembled a "country stroll whereas expenditure has increased at a sprint". It says the lack of progress has been particularly marked in stroke-care and mental health.
Citing data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Civitas says Britain is the only advanced country to have registered virtually no improvement in mortality as a result of stroke-care between 1999 and 2003.
And while hospitals have met their targets, they have often done so at the expense of the most effective methods of health care.
Total expenditure on the NHS in England increased from £44.9 billion in 2000-2001 to £76.4 billion this year. But the UK now ranks 24th out of 27 countries for the number of doctors per head.
The number of surgical procedures undertaken has fallen since 2000, unlike every in other OECD country except Germany.
The report says: "Improvements in the NHS have in no way increased in proportion to the vast sums of money ploughed into it."
Dr Jonathan Fielden, of the British Medical Association's consultants' committee, said it would be wrong to say that money had been "wasted".
But he agreed that the extra funding could have been better spent.
"The fundamental incoherence of current government policies have led to lack of engagement, frustration and low morale among doctors," he said. However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Thanks to record funding and radical reform, NHS patients are receiving better quality care and taxpayers are getting more bang for their buck.
"Our investment has delivered new hospitals, walk-in centres and GP surgeries, more doctors and nurses, and has helped the NHS achieve the [smallest] waiting-lists on record.
"We're now [implementing] plans to deliver £6.5 billion in efficiency savings within two years.
"Reforms like doing more procedures outside of large hospitals, payment by results and encouraging the NHS to share administrative functions, will ensure every extra penny is wisely spent."
Today's update on how Labour is wasting our money is taken from these two links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/14/ncivitas14.xml
http://www.civitas.org.uk/press/recent.php
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