Extra £40m for Welsh NHS to respond to winter pressures

15 Jan 2015 11:31 AM

The Welsh Government is allocating an extra £40m to the Welsh NHS in 2014-15 to help it deal with winter pressures, Finance Minister Jane Hutt announced today.

The extra investment, which comes from the Welsh Government’s reserves, follows the announcement that an additional £200m is being allocated to the Welsh NHS in 2014-15.

The £40m investment is the equivalent amount for Wales to the additional £700m the UK Government has given to NHS England to help it deal with winter pressures.

The Welsh NHS – like health services across the UK – has experienced sustained pressure over the Christmas and New Year period as a result of increased demand from an influx of sick patients.

Pressures on the NHS in Wales have included:

• GP out-of-hour services experienced their busiest festive period since they were established
• The Welsh Ambulance Service saw a significant rise in the most critically-ill patients using its services, with unprecedented levels of demand over recent weeks
• Hospital emergency departments across Wales have reported an increase in admissions of patients with acute conditions, complex needs and dependency.

Finance Minister Jane Hutt said:

“The additional £40m I’m announcing today means that in 2014-15, the Welsh NHS will have received nearly a quarter of a billion pounds in extra investment to deliver high-quality, sustainable health services.

“With an additional £295m being invested in 2015-16, which includes the £70m revenue funding as a result of the Autumn Statement, it means increased investment in our Welsh NHS of more than half a billion pounds over two years.

“This demonstrates our clear commitment to a sustainable NHS in Wales based on the reforms outlined in the Nuffield report.”

Welcoming the additional investment, Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford said:

“This additional investment in our health service will help our NHS deal with the significant pressures the service is facing – pressures that are being experienced across the UK as a result of increased demand from an influx of sick patients.

“Winter is a very busy period for our health, social care and social services – but our urgent and emergency care services, in particular, are seeing significant extra demand on their services.

“I want to thank staff who are working tirelessly, often in difficult situations, to ensure that those people who have needed urgent and emergency care have received high-quality treatment and services and have been treated with care and compassion.”

Speaking during a visit to Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, in Ystrad Mynach today, Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said:

“The public can help the NHS by choosing well and considering whether they need to go to A&E when they are injured or unwell or whether another local health service can help or if they can look after themselves with advice from NHS Direct Wales.

“Choosing well means people get the best treatment for their particular condition and allows busy NHS services to help people who need them most at this time.”