MATT Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, has told MPs that NHS spending will increase by £27 billion over five years, meaning the Scottish Government is set to receive a consequential boost of around £2.5bn by 2023/4.
During a debate on the Government’s NHS Funding Bill, Mr Hancock explained how it confirmed spending on the NHS south of the border would rise from £115bn last year to £121bn this financial year, to £127bn next year, then to £133bn in 2021/22, to £140bn in 2022/23 and to £148bn in 2023/24".
The Barnett Formula means any increased departmental spending in England results in a subsequent rise in Scotland on population share, which is around nine per cent.
Labour's Geraint Davies pointed out: "The Secretary of State knows in recent years the increases to the NHS have been about 1.4 per cent. His plan is for 3.4 per cent and the last Labour government delivered an average of 6.0 per cent a year, almost twice as much. So, how can he be saying this is enough? It clearly is too little too late."
But Mr Hancock replied: "No, it's the largest funding settlement and the longest funding settlement in history."
He added: "This Bill places a legal duty on the Government to uphold a minimum level of NHS revenue funding over the next few years and this point is very important. The legislation explicitly states that the Bill establishes a floor and not a ceiling on how much we spend on our vital and valued public service."
Philippa Whitford for the SNP asked Mr Hancock to clarify whether "the Government is committed to buying out the PFIs that are currently a burden on health wards and trusts".
The Secretary of State said his department "absolutely will be looking at doing that where we can", adding: "There are 106 PFI deals in hospitals and we are going through them and we will work to make them work better for patients, and if that means coming out of them completely then I will be thrilled."
Mr Hancock emphasised that the bill would help create 50 million more GP appointments a year to reduce waiting times.
He added the extra money would also allow the NHS to “upgrade our outdated front-line technology," which "saves time for staff and saves the lives of patients".
But his Labour Shadow Jon Ashworth dismissed the legislation as “not a serious funding Bill," saying: "It is an under-funding Bill. It is a political gimmick of a Bill."
Noting how the amounts mentioned were in cash and not real terms, he said: "If inflation runs at higher levels than expected, unless we get that commitment, it means the NHS will not be getting the extra money the Secretary of State is boasting about from the despatch box today."
Mr Ashworth said health expenditure would have to increase by 3.4 per cent every year just to maintain current standards of care and by at least 4.0 per cent to make improvements, something he said the legislation did not offer.
"This Bill simply cannot make up for the decade of decline in which those gains in quality care and outcomes made by the last Labour government have been squandered by this Tory Government," he added.
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