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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

NHS financial sustainability

Status: Closed Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 16 May 2025 3 recommendations 23 conclusions 1 report

The scale of the challenge facing the NHS is unprecedented. Local NHS systems in England ended 2023/24 with a collective deficit of £1.4bn. NHS England (NHSE) received more than £4.5bn in extra funding in 2023/24, and reduced planned spending against its central budget by £1.7bn – but these actions did not prevent NHS systems’ deficits …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
5th Report - NHS financial sustainability HC 350 29 Jan 2025 26 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items
7 Conclusion 5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili… Rejected

Publish plans to reduce NHS paper reliance and set deadline to end fax machines.

Despite ambitions to improve productivity through the introduction of new technologies, the switch to digital in parts of the NHS has been glacially slow. Digital and technological improvements could have a transformative effect on the NHS. However, NHSE’s investment in technology over the period 2022–23 to 2024–25 stalled because funding …

Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation, arguing against providers being 'fully paperless' due to digital inclusion considerations. It reports that 91% of secondary care trusts have Electronic Patient Records, forecast to reach 96% by March 2026, and fax machines will …
HM Treasury
26 Conclusion 5th Report - NHS financial sustainabili… Rejected

NHS still lacks consistent data infrastructure and technological maturity, delaying productivity gains.

We asked what was being done to improve productivity through the use of new technologies. NHSE told us the NHS currently lacks a consistent data infrastructure and that NHS providers varied in terms of their levels of technological maturity.50 NHSE said that it was putting modern technology into some of …

Government response. The government disagrees that providers should be fully paperless, stating that some patient communications must be sent by letter and outlines investment in national IT systems, EPRs and the NHS app.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
25 Nov 2024 Amanda Pritchard · NHS England, Andy Brittain · Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Antonia Williams · HM Treasury, Julian Kelly · NHS England, Sir Chris Wormald KCB · Cabinet Office View ↗

Correspondence

6 letters
DateDirectionTitle
10 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care…
4 Sep 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Health and Social Care …
7 Apr 2025 To cttee Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Soc…
27 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Soc…
10 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from the Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at NHS Engla…
4 Feb 2025 To cttee Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Soc…