Summary
NHS England hopes to save between £100 – £400 million of spending annually, by no longer funding / prescribing products and services identified by NHS Clinical Commissioners as having little or no clinical value.
Reference
Triggle, N. (2017). NHS targets suncream prescriptions for cuts. London: BBC Health News, March 28th 2017.
This relates to:
Reference
NHS England to issue new guidance on low value prescription items. London: NHS England, March 28th 2017.
Approaches to Funding
Different NHS funding models have been much in debate recently:
Reference
Pym, H. (2017). Should the NHS have its own tax? London: BBC Health News, March 16th 2017.
This relates to:
Reference
Health and social care: delivering a secure funding future. An interim report. London: Patients Association, March 2017.
More funding speculation:
Reference
Pym, H. (2017). Could private investors fund a new wave of hospitals? London: BBC Health News, April 10th 2017.
Amid questions about sustainability of NHS funding, the King’s Fund offers brief international comparisons and a summary of the alternative funding models. Most countries fund health care using a combination of methods.
Reference
McKenna, H. Dunn, P. [and] Northern, E. [et al] (2017). How health care is funded. [Online]: King’s Fund, March 23rd 2017.
Rising Imbalances?
With the NHS England Five Year Forward View now half-way through towards completion, a Health Foundation report analyses reasons for growing concern about the prospects of closing funding gaps:
- The financial position of NHS providers has continued to worsen.
- Additional funding for health care announced in the 2015 Autumn Statement has been front-loaded in 2015/16 and 2016/17, but rising costs continue to out-pace the growth in the funding for NHS providers.
- Demand for care has risen faster than NHS provider income. Emergency admissions have “crowded-out” elective admissions.
- Projected NHS efficiency gains have become increasingly slow, difficult to achieve and have fallen below target.
- Consultant numbers have increased, yet consultant productivity has fallen (a case of diminishing marginal utility or inappropriate deployment?).
- The NHS does not operate in isolation, so whole-system re-design and improved integration remain important for tackling intractable financial problems and under-performance at their root cause(s) across the health and care system.
Reference
Lafond, S. Charlesworth, A. [and] Roberts, A. (2017). A year of plenty? An analysis of NHS finances and consultant productivity. London: Health Foundation, March 2017.
For further information, on NHS England’s Five Year Forward View: Next Steps plans, refer to NHS England’s Five Year Forward View: Next Steps On (NHS England).
A Growing Role for the Independent Sector?
A Health Foundation analysis for the Financial Times discovered that, in England, about £1 in £8 (12.5%) of local commissioning budgets gets spent on care provided by non-NHS organisations. Overall, the Department of Health is thought to spend less than 10% of its budget on independent providers.
Reference
NHS bosses ‘spent half of extra Autumn Statement cash on outside services’. London: BBC Health News, March 27th 2017.
Miscellaneous Other Economies
Possibly of interest:
Reference
NHS to introduce £20m cap on new drugs. London: BBC Health News, March 15th 2017.
Believe It or Not?
An “upbeat” assessment of supposed-problems and dismissal of common NHS-related “myths”, which aims to minimise readers’ concerns about the NHS and / or displace responsibility elsewhere:
Reference
Anandaciva, S. (2017). NHS myth-busters. [Online]: King’s Fund, March 23rd 2017.
Running on Fumes?
A fairly predictable “smoke and mirrors” allegation, intended to rally the troops for the British Medical Association’s annual conference:
Reference
Triggle, N. (2017). BMA chief: NHS is ‘running on fumes’. London: BBC Health News, June 26th 2017.
Reality Check: More Spent on the NHS Than Previously Estimated
Previous estimates of the proportion of UK GDP allocated to health were probably on the low side:
Full Text Link (Note: This article requires a suitable Athens password, a journal subscription or payment for access).
Reference
Appleby, J. [and] Gershlick, B. (2017). Keeping up with the Johanssons: How does UK health spending compare internationally? BMJ. August 3rd 2017; 358: j3568.
On the role of the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR):
Full Text Link (Note: This article requires a suitable Athens password, a journal subscription or payment for access).
Reference
Appleby, J. (2017). Health spending: is there another way to plan? BMJ. July 14th 2017; 358: j3299.
