Last week saw the Chancellor’s Spending Review, which laid out the government’s financial priorities for the rest of this Parliament.
The headline announcement was an extra £29 billion per year for the NHS, plus a £4 billion annual uplift in capital investment. Waiting lists have already come down by 200,000 nationally and by 33,000 here in the South East. But this extra investment will mean an even sharper annual fall in waiting times as thousands more GPs are trained and recruited, along with mental health support in all our schools, increased emergency dental care and essential funding for technology, transforming the now analogue NHS into a digital one, meaning greater long-term efficiency and a service fit for the future.
This massive boost for our NHS must surely be good news for everyone – except perhaps Mr Farage and his friends in Reform who would prefer an insurance-based system, in which access to healthcare would be reserved for those with the ability to pay.
As a public health doctor, I of course wholeheartedly welcome these measures, along with many others such as the doubling of spending on social housing and the extra £2.3 billion per year to rebuild of our schools. However, there are also certain aspects of the Spending Review which do give me cause for concern and as the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health and Security I have written to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves to express those.
In a time of mounting international divisions and uncertainties, health security must be central to the UK’s foreign policy. Threats such as future pandemics and increasing health workforce shortages continue to grow, and it is essential that we retain the capacity to respond. With the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s overall resource budget set to fall by 6.9% in real terms, the UK’s ability to engage effectively in global health will be significantly constrained.
I have therefore asked for reassurance that the government remains committed to global development and the role of the FCDO, the World Health Organisation and others in creating health, wealth and opportunity both in the UK and around the world. For all our priorities here at home, it remains vital that we continue to strengthen multilateral institutions, support health workers worldwide, and prepare for the health threats of tomorrow.
