Recommendations & Conclusions
8 items
5
Recommendation
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
Given the constraints on public spending, it is highly likely that re- focusing attention from sickness to prevention cannot be achieved without re-allocating existing NHS funds in the same direction. Senior ICB leaders report a continued lack of progress with the government’s long-standing aim to move towards preventing ill health …
Government response. The government is considering defining health prevention spending, deferring to the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan and Spending Review Phase 2. It notes that 2025-26 planning guidance has removed many ringfences for local flexibility and NHS England will soon publish …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
NHSE’s long-held ambition to move more care from hospitals to the community has stalled. There would have been more investment and progress in mental health and community services, particularly GP surgeries and dental services, in 2023–24 had NHSE not redirected funding to prop up the day-to-day spending of local NHS …
Government response. The government is considering the recommendation, stating it will be addressed within the 10 Year Health Plan and multi-year Spending Review for decisions on shifting funding to community care. It highlights increased mental health spending in 2023-24 and the maintenance …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England (NHSE), and HM Treasury (HMT) on the financial management and financial sustainability of the NHS in England.1
Government response. The government states it is working with NHS England to publish planning guidance earlier and aims to improve the planning process for future years. It defers further consideration of this recommendation to the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan.
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
DHSC described how the new government had set out three shifts that they want to see in the NHS: from analogue to digital; from treatment to prevention; and from acute to community. DHSC said that it wanted “to see those shifts over time, but not at the expense of patients …
Government response. The government is considering measures for supporting the prevention shift in the context of the work of the 10 Year Health Plan and does not wish to pre-empt the content, but will consider defining health prevention spend as an enabler …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
Senior ICB leaders reported to the National Audit Office a continued lack of progress with the government’s long-standing aim to move towards preventing ill health rather than treating it. One of the most important reasons cited by ICBs has been the focus on other pressing national priorities, particularly elective care …
Government response. The government states that measures for supporting the prevention shift are being considered in context of the work of the 10 Year Health Plan.
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
DHSC told us it did not view providing more resources, or redirecting them from elsewhere, as a substantive part of the solution to the lack of progress with prevention. Instead, it considers that a shift towards prevention might be achieved through longer-term changes in culture, public attitudes and the legislative …
Government response. The government is considering measures for supporting the prevention shift in the context of the work of the 10 Year Health Plan and does not wish to pre-empt the content, but will consider defining health prevention spend as an enabler …
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
Currently, NHSE does not even track spend and activity on prevention by ICBs at local levels, due to unavailability of data and the lack of consistency about what counts as prevention spending. While DHSC funds some prevention activities that sit outside the NHS, primarily through its Office for Health Improvement …
Government response. The government states that defining health prevention spend could enable a shift from sickness to prevention, and that this recommendation will be considered in the context of developing the 10 Year Health Plan.
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili…
Deferred
Despite carrying out 15% more elective activity than before the pandemic, the NHS is less productive overall once the activities of mental health trusts, community trusts and GPs are considered.42 NHSE told us that, while government has had a long-term aim to shift more care and services into local communities, …
Government response. NHSE, with DHSC, is focusing on enabling a greater shift from hospital to community – including considering how funding decisions over coming years can support this through the 10 Year Health Plan and the multi-year Spending Review. This recommendation is …
HM Treasury