Volume of services delivered by NHS will shrink, warns think tank

Services that the NHS will be able to provide over the next few years may shrink without a firm grip on pay and price inflation, reports an expert think tank.

In its analysis of October’s spending review and the government’s health white paper the Nuffield Trust has warned that the NHS will be forced to become smarter at controlling costs.

The trust said the NHS was facing an “unprecedented challenge” in that it was being expected to deliver far reaching reforms to patient care at the same time as increasing demand and what was effectively a real terms reduction in its funding over the next four …