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Health Secretary sets out future funding and NHS priorities

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 8 December 2008

NHS Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are to receive £164 billion funding for 2009/10 and 2010/11, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced today. This includes an average increase of 5.5% over both years, continuing Government investment that has seen funding in the NHS treble since 1997.

Strong financial management across the NHS has brought the service out of deficit and onto a firm financial footing. The NHS is well placed to meet the challenges of the tougher economic climate ahead.

Today's announcement will see funding rise to an average of £1,612 per person by 2010/11 compared to £426 in 1996/97. PCTs will control a greater proportion of funding, with more than 80% of the total NHS budget now allocated directly, allowing them to tailor health services locally to meet local patient needs. Following an independent review by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation the allocations are based on a new, more technically robust formula. A separate formula for health inequalities has also been developed which targets areas with the worst health outcomes.

The NHS Operating Framework for 2009/10, setting out NHS priorities for the next year is also published this week. The Operating Framework will help deliver Lord Darzi's vision of an NHS that has quality at the heart of everything it does, as set out in his report High Quality Care for All. The Framework will allow the NHS to focus on ensuring care is safe, compassionate and personal to patients. It will also enable the NHS to deliver the efficiency savings that will be necessary over the coming years by providing better care for better value. For example, it is estimated that reducing healthcare associated infections has improved the experience of thousands of patients and saved the NHS £75 million in the last year.

The top five NHS priorities in today's Operating Framework are:

1. Improving standards of cleanliness and tackling healthcare associated infections;
2. Improving access to care through the achievement of the 18-week referral to treatment pledge and improving access to GP services, including at evenings and at weekends;
3. Improving the health of adults and children and reducing health inequalities, by focusing on improving care for cancer and stroke, and paying particular attention to children's health, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country;
4. Improving patient experience, staff satisfaction and engagement; and
5. Preparing to respond in a state of emergency, such as an outbreak of pandemic influenza.

In line with Lord Darzi's review of the NHS, PCTs will set their own additional local targets based on evidence about local needs. Efficiency savings can be delivered by enabling the NHS to design services locally that are led by clinicians and based on the needs of patients and communities.

The NHS has made significant achievements this year in both quality of care and financial performance. Nationally, several major commitments have been met including:
* Meeting the 18 weeks target nationally five months early in September;
* Halving MRSA infections from the 2003/4 baseline and this spring reducing C. difficile infections by 35% on the same quarter last year;
* Achieving more than 50% of GP practices offering extended opening hours, three months ahead of target; and
* Gershon efficiency savings exceeded the target of £6.47 billion, as the NHS delivered £7.88 billion of savings in 2007/08.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:

"In its 60th year the NHS is in good shape and treating more patients than ever. The NHS has benefited from successive generous spending settlements, investment has trebled since 1997. This has funded the record increases in staff, hospitals and medical advances we have seen in recent years.

"We will sustain our investment in the health service over the next two years as the NHS continues to deliver significant improvements against key priorities including better access to primary care, the shortest ever waiting times and a relentless drive to tackle healthcare associated infections.

"During these tougher economic times the NHS, along with the rest of the public sector, will have to make its contribution to delivering greater efficiency. Good financial management over the last few years has put the NHS on a firm financial footing and we can be confident that the NHS can continue to provide the improvements and high quality care that patients, public and staff rightly demand."

NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson said:

"I congratulate the NHS on the significant improvements and progress that have been made over the last 12 months.

"This year's Operating Framework sets no new national targets for the NHS. The priorities we set last year were what mattered most to staff, patients and the public, and they remain the same this year.

"We now need to build on the movement generated through the NHS Next Stage Review, led by Lord Darzi, to put quality at the heart of everything the NHS does.

"The revenue allocations to PCTs that have been announced today will enable the NHS to deliver on those priorities. PCTs now control over 80% of the total NHS budget, giving them the freedom and flexibility to spend according to the needs of local people. Given the current economic challenges, it is more important than ever that we focus these resources on securing high quality care for all, because better care means better value."

Notes to Editors

1. The Department of Health is this week publishing the following documents:

* The NHS in England: The Operating Framework for 2009/10
* PCT revenue allocations for 2009/10 and 2010/11
* Report of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation December 2008
* Informatics Planning 2009
* Using the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) payment framework
* The standard NHS contracts for acute hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services and supporting guidance

2. All documents can be found at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/Financeandplanning/Allocations/index.htm