Enshrining funding in law won’t bring down waiting times straight away, health leaders warn

The five year funding settlement for the NHS in England will be enshrined in law by the new government, Boris Johnson has announced.

The move, which in reality merely adds legal formality to the government’s prior commitment to deliver an average annual real terms increase of 3.4% to NHS funding over the next five years, was announced in the Queen’s speech on 19 December.1 The speech, which set out the new Conservative government’s priorities for the next five years after its victory in the UK general election on 12 December, also outlined plans to support the NHS workforce after Brexit with a new fast track entry visa to the UK and to …