Boris Johnson to announce £1.8bn cash boost for NHS

Money will help fund upgrades to 20 hospitals, plus new beds and equipment, but Labour says it falls ‘significantly short’ of what is needed

Benjamin Kentish
Political Correspondent
Sunday 04 August 2019 10:09 BST
Comments
Boris Johnson says that 'my job is to serve you the people'

Boris Johnson is set to announce a £1.8bn cash boost for frontline NHS services.

The prime minister will make the pledge during a visit to a hospital on Monday. He is expected to say that the money will go towards increasing the number of hospital beds, funding new equipment, upgrading wards and repairing damaged buildings.

The government said the cash injection would fund upgrades to 20 hospitals around the country, with the details to be announced by Mr Johnson.

Sources said the prime minister would confirm that the money will be made available immediately.

The funding is on top of the £33.9bn per year increase by 2023-24 that was promised by Theresa May.

A government source said: “The prime minister has been clear since day one that the NHS is a top priority.

“This money will be felt by frontline services, by the doctors and nurses whose hard work is invaluable, and by the patients they care for.”

However, Labour said the funding fell “significantly short” of what was needed and pointed out that the government has previously cut money for NHS buildings and equipment in order to fund day-to-day care.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said: “This announcement – even if it’s ever delivered – falls significantly short of what’s needed to provide the quality, safe care to patients after years of Tory cuts.

“Tory ministers have repeatedly cut capital investment budgets in recent years. These smash and grab raids have meant over £4bn slashed and seen the NHS repair bill spiral to £6bn, putting patient safety seriously at risk.

“What’s more, Matt Hancock [the health secretary] has hopelessly failed to deliver on existing Tory promises, delivering less than 3 per cent of cash supposedly earmarked for upgrades. This record of incompetence and cuts confirms what even Johnson’s advisers admit – Tory MPs simply don’t care about the NHS.”

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

It is understood that £850m of the additional funding will go towards upgrading the 20 hospitals – a pledge made by Mr Johnson on the steps of Downing Street minutes after he became prime minister.

Then, he said: “My job is to make sure you don’t have to wait three weeks to see your GP and we start work this week with 20 new hospital upgrades, and ensuring that money for the NHS really does get to the frontline.”

Speaking in the House of Commons the next day, he promised that there would also be more funding to help the NHS prepare for winter.

Mr Johnson said he had also asked officials to come up with a plan for “for drastically reducing waiting times and for GP appointments”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in