Chancellor’s £2.8bn NHS cash pledge will not ease pressures, leaders warn

The NHS in England will receive an additional £2.8bn (€3.16bn; $3.72bn) from the government over the next two years to invest in frontline services, the chancellor of the exchequer has announced.

In his annual autumn budget on 22 November, Philip Hammond also pledged a further £3.5bn of new capital funding for the NHS in England to support new buildings and infrastructure, and he committed to funding pay awards for NHS staff on the Agenda for Change contract, including nurses, once an increase is agreed between the unions and the government.

Healthcare leaders said that the extra frontline cash was welcome but that it fell short of what the NHS required to maintain levels of care. Before the budget Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, and leading experts said that the service required at least £4bn extra a year to maintain performance and to meet current demand.1

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