Autumn Budget 2024: A Bumper Budget for the NHS

Following the government Budget delivered yesterday by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, we wanted to summarise the key implications for the NHS and the public healthcare sector.

Read our press release for budget insights, and how we can help deliver some of the key initiatives that were announced!

The financial fog that has engulfed public sector finances for some time has cleared, now the chancellor has spilled the beans and announced the fiscal budget for the next parliamentary term.

Yesterday’s Budget opened up a huge financial vista for public sector health and the NHS, bringing some welcome news into relief for the next 5 year’s funding landscape.

A Brief Overview

The Starmer/Reeves duo is keen to make its stamp on this Labour government’s legacy, one that signals a new attitude towards public spending and a big “New Deal” approach, on the back of Labour peer Lord Darzi’s punitive report on NHS performance.

The first big headline item for the NHS to celebrate was the £23bn poured in from government coffers, reminiscent of Blair’s 5-year annual spending increase announced at the beginning of his second term.

This government is clearly invested in healing the NHS from post-Covid fatigue and pouring in financial nourishment to recover NHS capacity to full health. This will be administered through the following initiatives that form the corner piece of this year’s Autumn budget.

Giant Funding Stimulus

The extra £23bn of day-to-day spending will be music to the ears of ward managers and procurements teams that have been crying out for new equipment and operating improvements. Departments across the nation’s Trusts that have been in a spending freeze over the past few months can now hit the Enter key on the spending pipeline, and release a tidal wave of investment and operating efficiencies through the hospital wards.

The extra package of £3.1bn for capital expenditure will ensure that wards can get their hands on larger ticket items like surgical equipment, cutting-edge technologies, beds, seating, and new treatment hubs. This will also stop the raid on cap-ex budgets by operating departments, one of the concerns uncovered in Lord Darzi’s NHS report.

Cutting the Waiting List

Elective appointments for cancer screening and routine testing have long been crying out for more capacity, which this new programme is going to fix, creating an extra 40,000 elective appointments a week.

Efficiency Drives

Introducing a 2% productivity savings target will incentivise procurements teams towards value-for-money schemes, prioritising supply chain partners that can deliver real-term efficiencies, and cut back on spending waste.

Establishing a lean, private sector-style spending culture will be spearheaded by the creation of a new government department, Office for Value for Money, as part of the government’s focus to effort to drive financial efficiencies and maximise taxpayer’s value for money.

Build Back Better

Echoing the legacy of the New Hospital Programme, the Treasury is reaffirming their commitment to bricks and mortar development for the NHS’s ailing infrastructure.

This will address some of the key failings identified in Lord Darzi’s damning independent report, which cited crumbling buildings, outdated scanners and seriously outdated digital infrastructure.

Modernising NHS real estate and upgrading NHS’s facilities to serve the health needs of 21st-century Britain is well overdue and a key priority of this year’s budget.

A Tech-Driven Workforce

Attracting and retaining new staff is a key part of the drive for greater NHS operating efficiency. This will involve a £2bn investment in new digital technology to free up staff time, as part of the transition from analogue to digital records and the rollout of patient access via App.

The Future is Now

The Treasury are keen to get started on reversing NHS underfunding in previous years that has been blamed for fall in productivity and the dangerous RAAC issue that has affected so many NHS buildings.

£1.5bn of funding will be released for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners, creating capacity for 30,000 additional procedures.

A Nation in Rude Health

Recognising the need for greater public health awareness in post-pandemic Britain, the budget includes new initiatives to discourage smoking and junk food through advertising and sale restrictions, hoping to stem the tide of growing obesity and fix health issues at their source.

Levelling Up Community Care

The government wants to boost local health services in the community through a real terms spending increase of 3.2% in social care services. This includes, specifically:

• £600m of new grants to support social care in the community
• £86m extra to be pumped in the Disabled Facilities Grant for home adaptations

A Strategic Look Forward

The government’s 10-year health plan will focus on reform and driving productivity, shifting the gears of public health through a combination of three measures:

• A shift from hospital to community care, to reduce the strain on hospital services and growth in waiting lists.
• Transitioning NHS data from analogue to digital and harnessing the technological opportunities that can deliver greater outcomes for NHS patient and the workforce.
• Taking action against childhood obesity and creating the first ‘smoke-free’ generation, to tackle health issues at their root cause.

Investing in Mental Health

Policy changes in the area of mental health services will involve a radical overhaul of capacity through £26m of new funding, reducing pressure on A&E services and bringing down the huge waiting list of 350,000 still waiting for mental health support.

How Vivid.Care Can Help Deliver Budget Aims

At Vivid.Care we’re aligned with the values and strategic direction of the NHS, with our clinical bed and seating range designed to cut waste, downtime and maximise staff efficiencies, and ultimately improve patient treatment outcomes.

Cutting the Elective Backlog

The backlog of appointments for elective screening has long been an issue we have been working to alleviate, in partnership with Breast Screening Units and outpatient clinics.

Our ergonomic seating solution for breast screening is designed to:

• Speed up patient throughflow
• Keep the patient comfortable and supported throughout the procedure
• Reduce physical strain of the operator by removing manual handling

Real Productivity Gains

Our Seating Standardisation philosophy creates efficiencies throughout hospital wards by using a multi-purpose, standardised seating range that is simple to operate and adjust by all levels of care staff.

Procurement teams can demonstrate a remarkable return on investment towards the new 2% productivity target by requesting our free seating audit, capturing cost saved in terms of:

• Reduced staff downtime and training costs
• Reusable and reconfigurable chairs with modular parts, saving on maintenance costs
• Extra longevity due to enhanced build quality
• Faster patient recovery times, reducing patient day costs

A Better Patient Experience

All the elements of our acute seating range are geared towards an enhanced level of patient care, improving the patient experience and getting them discharged quicker back to their homes and local communities.

• Fully adjustable seat height, width and depth allow the chair to be adjusted to suit each patient and provide the best postural support and positioning
• Higher-grade pressure relief options, tilt-in-space function and hospital grade fabrics reduce incidences of pressure sores and infections.

Community Collaboration

Improving synergies between acute and community care has long been the vision of the NHS, encouraged by the creation of ICBs, and a goal we are passionate about helping to achieve:

• Getting patients back on their feet and mobile following hospital treatment prevents deconditioning, frees up bed capacity and reduces patient stay costs for the Trust.
• Our range of rehabilitation chairs, physiotherapy devices like the StairTrainer and bariatric seating are designed to help patients regain their mobility faster and safer.
• We have a diverse range of beds and seating for community care, with chairs such as the Lento Neuro designed to support patients with long term disorders such as Huntington’s or Cerebral Palsy, covered in detail in this year’s Mastering Seating Assessments online training programme.

As a strategic partner to the NHS we want to maximise Value for Money Initiatives, and put spending power back in the hands of community wards and Trusts through a demonstrable saving in hospital time and resource.

A Final Word

This year’s Autumn budget marks a sea change for NHS funding, giving procurement and strategic initiatives the green light after months of stasis.

With the tides of good fortune turning towards the NHS in the form of giant funding schemes, capital investment and digital transformation, the future for the health service looks bright.