The main parties’ pledges on health
BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6702 (Published 27 November 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;367:l6702- Gareth Iacobucci
- The BMJ
Funding
Conservatives
Increase NHS funding by £34bn a year by the end of the parliament (£20.5bn in real terms, a 3.4% rise)
£1bn extra a year for social care in every year of the new parliament
Build and fund 40 new hospitals over the next 10 years, and make 20 hospital upgrades
£74m over three years for extra capacity in community care settings for people with learning disabilities and autism
£25m (pledged in August 2019) for hospice care
Labour
Increase expenditure across health sector by an average 4.3% a year (£26bn increase by end of the parliament)
Provide an extra £1.6bn a year to ensure that new standards for mental health are enshrined in the NHS Constitution, ensuring that access to treatment is on a par with that for physical health conditions
Invest £2bn to modernise hospital facilities and end the use of inappropriate out-of-area placements
Return NHS England to the international average level of capital investment (£15bn increase over parliament)
Invest more than £1bn in public health
Allocate a greater proportion of overall funding to health services close to patients' homes and build interdisciplinary, patient focused services across primary care, mental health, and social care
Liberal Democrats
Raise £7bn a year from a 1p in the pound rise in income tax. Money will be ringfenced for social care, staffing, and mental health and prevention services
£10bn capital investment in equipment and buildings
Reinstate funding that was cut from public health budgets by the Conservatives
Increase government spending on climate and environmental objectives to at least 5% of the total within five years
Develop a dedicated, progressive Health and Care Tax, offset by other tax reductions, …
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