MPs highlight redirected GP funds in NHSE critique

NHSE ambitions to move more care from hospitals to the community have stalled due to a redirection of funds away from providers such as GP practices.

Publishing a report into NHS financial sustainability, government watchdog the Public Accounts Committee concludes that vital GP funding has been directed “to prop up the day-to-day spending of local NHS systems”. Had this not happened, there would be more investment and progress in mental health and community services, the MPs conclude.

The report into NHSE’s payment mechanisms also suggests that local systems do not receive financial recognition when they prioritise hard-to-reach patients.

The financial challenges of delivering rural NHS GP services and access to NHS pharmaceutical services in rural areas are highlighted in the DDA’s RAMP UP campaign. The DDA echoes PAC conclusions that the NHS must be put on a financially sustainable footing if it is to deal with the multiple challenges it currently faces. These include an ageing population.

PAC members said: “Transformations are essential to the NHS’s recovery and future sustainability. The scale of government’s ambitions is great, but senior officials do not seem to have ideas, or the drive, to match the level of change required.”

Read the NHSE response.

England Political News