Budget 2017: Will £100m A&E investment really help NHS?

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said: ‘There was nothing in the Budget to help hospitals with the acute crisis they are facing now.  

‘The money announced for capital spend will not go anywhere near far enough to restore hospitals after seven years of neglect. The Government need to be much clearer about how they’re going to manage demand for emergency care after the crisis they’ve overseen this winter.

‘This should have been a Budget that gave the NHS and social care sector the money it urgently needed. Instead, the Health Secretary has failed to support our overstretched NHS workforce and give patients the world-class health system they deserve.’

Mike Adamson, chief executive of the British Red Cross, said: ‘There is now widespread agreement that the shortfall in social care funding has put pressure on the health system in some areas, and left many without the care and dignity they deserve.  

‘We stand ready to play our part in building a health and social care model which not only addresses the shortfall in services, but also starts to bridge the gap between health and social care, and fulfil the vision of preventative support that can keep vulnerable older and disabled people out of crisis in the first place.’  

Scott Sinclair, head of policy and public affairs of Marie Curie, said: ‘Timely access to social care is often determines whether someone is able to get out of hospital in the last weeks and days of their lives. However, money is not the only issue. 

‘The majority of people continue to die in hospital, so unless the Government develops the capacity of community palliative care services, there will be more pressure on our already stretched hospitals.’ 

Jason Parker, head of health, at KPMG said: ‘The announcement of a £100 million investment to roll out GP triage to reduce waiting times in AE is in my view well overdue, and has already proven to be successful in hospitals across the country over the past decade. 

‘However, it’s disappointing that the Chancellor failed to announce measures on wider prevention – to keep people out of AE in the first place. Prevention is about much more than smoking cessation schemes.’ 

Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), said: ‘The RCS has called for more infrastructure money to be available in the NHS. 

‘The extra money today takes us a step closer to realising long-awaited changes to help patients, particularly better out-of-hospital care.’

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘The extra funding will definitely help, but we await the details. 

‘Without this money it will be impossible to develop the new services that are so desperately needed.’

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: ‘Today, the Chancellor missed an opportunity to give the NHS the level of investment he knows it needs.’

Dr Mark Porter, council chair of the British Medical Association, said: ‘This budget does nothing to address the gaping hole in NHS finances. 

‘The NHS and social care are at breaking point and have been failed by party politics for too long. We need politicians from all sides to come together to agree a long-term solution to the challenges facing health and social care. 

‘The crisis in the NHS doesn’t stop at the hospital door – our AE’s are struggling because of an overstretched system. Having GPs in AE won’t reduce admissions – if anything this could have the effect of attracting more patients to hospitals. 

‘Our health service is one of the best in the world, but is, increasingly, failing too many people for too much of the time. Put simply, today’s budget does not go far enough to address this.’

Chris Ham, chief executive of The King’s Fund, said: ‘This winter the NHS has been buckling under the strain of meeting rising demand for services and maintaining standards of care. 

‘The Chancellor must address this in his autumn Budget or be honest with the public about the standards of care they can expect with the funding the NHS has been given.”

A spokesperson for The UK Council for Psychotherapy said: ‘We are extremely concerned that the budget does not commit to any extra spending for mental health. 

‘The Government itself has highlighted the injustice of inadequate access to mental health services. This situation is impossible to address without extra money.’

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of The Patients Association, said: ‘Today’s Budget has set the NHS and social care system on course for a continuing crisis in the coming years.’

Oliver Hayes, Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said: ‘The chancellor did nothing to protect our children from the twin threats of toxic air pollution and climate change.

‘With thousands of people dying prematurely from air pollution every year it’s astonishing that the Chancellor didn’t act on dirty diesel.’