Brown confirms a 7.1% rise in NHS spending next year

Health was confirmed as the government's biggest spending priority in Chancellor Gordon Brown's UK spending review this week.

The NHS will receive an annual real terms rise of 7.1%—paid for in part by the axing of more than 100 000 civil servants' jobs, including 727 from the Department of Health, and other efficiency savings.

The funding boost, already previewed in April's Budget, will take investment in the NHS from £69bn ($129bn; €104bn) this year to £92bn by …