Reroute funding to boost local NHS services, says opinion poll
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The majority of Britons want to see more NHS funding allocated to community services rather than hospitals, according to research, which shows the government’s funding programme is at odds with public opinion.
Sixty per cent of people surveyed by Health Foundation think-tank and polling group Ipsos leaned towards prioritising easier access to local care in England, with just 29 per cent choosing care in hospitals.
Those who took part in the research, shared with the Financial Times, said they believed strengthening services such as GPs and dentistry would help keep people out of struggling hospitals and A&E departments, through earlier diagnosis and treatment.
“People see these community-based services as a way of mitigating the demand on hospital services later and diagnosing conditions earlier,” said Tim Gardner, a policy expert at the Health Foundation think-tank.
“This came through in all three of our workshops, as well as the polling. It may be a reflection of the growing frustration with accessing GPs and dentists at the moment,” he added.
Spending on hospital services has increased as a proportion of total NHS expenditure in recent years, while the proportion spent on primary care and community health services has fallen.
Labour have said they would like to see a bigger proportion of the NHS budget going to primary care, while the Conservative’s 2019 NHS’ “long term plan” includes a commitment that the share of spending on primary care and community services will grow faster than the NHS budget overall.
The research, which surveyed 1,774 people in England also found almost half of respondents were willing to pay more in taxes to improve services, favouring a hypothecated levy to reassure them the NHS would benefit from the extra revenue, over a rise in income tax.
A Health Foundation analysis published earlier this year projected an additional 2.6mn people will have a major illness by 2040 with conditions, such as depression and diabetes, “that could be managed more effectively in primary care.”
However, hospital trusts have recorded funding growth of 27 per cent since 2016-17, according to the latest NHS accounts, compared with 14 per cent in community trusts.
Meanwhile, the number of hospital and community health doctors have increased substantially, while the number of fully qualified GPs has fallen.
Between December 2016 and January 2024, the number of fully-qualified GPs in England fell by 6 per cent, from 29,230 to 27,534, according to a House of Commons analysis of NHS data. This has largely come about as a result of the more immediate and more visible pressures on acute hospitals.
Shortfalls in community-based services can lead to more treatment being carried out in acute care, in turn increasing demand for funding in this part of the service.
The state of the health service is a key issue for voters ahead of the next general election expected this year. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats plan to put the ruling Conservatives’ government record on the NHS at the heart of their campaigns.
Ipsos polling found just 9 per cent of those surveyed in England believe the current government has the right policies in place, while 54 per cent believe the standard of care provided by NHS services will worsen over the course of the year.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The government is improving access to primary and community care.”
“We are already delivering 50mn more GP appointments per year and our Pharmacy First scheme, alongside expanded blood pressure check and contraception services, will free up an anticipated 10 million GP appointments a year once fully scaled.”
Comments