NHS lacks the capacity to absorb the government’s extra billions

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7367.734/c

BMJ 2002;325:734 ( 5 October )

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NHS lacks the capacity to absorb the government’s extra billions

Owen Dyer London

The extra billions being pumped into the NHS may end up being largely consumed by salary increases, according to a pharmaceutical industry think tank. The Office of Health Economics says that the health service lacks the capacity to absorb the money without inflationary pressures developing within the system.

Speaking at the launch of the office’s annual Compendium of Health Statistics, associate director Jon Sussex said: "More money is great, but the question is how fast can it be spent, because what we want is more and better health care, not more expensive health care. We are worried some of this money will end up sloshing around without a home."

The government has promised to expand the NHS budget by £40bn ($63bn; €64bn) over the next five years. The office said that UK health spending, which accounted for 7.1% of gross domestic product in . . . [Full text of this article]

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