Public will have to “put their hands in their pockets” for better NHS, says Stevens

People will need to pay more if they want to see continued growth and improvement in the NHS, the chief executive of NHS England has said.

Speaking at the annual conference of the health think tank the King’s Fund in London on Wednesday 9 November, Simon Stevens was asked about the possibility of rationing NHS services. He said that he would have to be “persuaded of the benefits” of limiting healthcare but that the public might need to pay more in the future for improvements to services.

“I, and others, are being as clear as we …