As Health Secretary I fully believe in the NHS and its values, and I would like to assure you that the Government is committed to a tax-funded NHS, free at the point of use, wherever and whenever you need it.
Despite tight public finances, the Government has actively supported the NHS's own plan for the future. That is why we are increasing NHS spending by at least £8 billion in real terms by 2022. This will ensure that by the end of this Parliament, everyone will be able to access GP services at evenings and weekends.
And following the Autumn Budget, over the next three years the Government will provide the NHS with an additional £2.8 billion resource funding. Over this winter, the NHS will receive £335 million to manage winter pressures; a further £1.6 billion will be invested in 2018-19, and in 2019-20, £900 million will be provided.
At the Budget the Chancellor also announced an additional programme of capital investment, further to the £425 million committed at the Spring Budget in March 2017. I am happy to say that this investment will be worth £3.5 billion, and will help NHS organisations deliver significant improvements to local services, improve performance, and significantly increase NHS efficiency.
For social care, as a result of measures introduced by the government – introducing a new social care precept and creating the new ‘improved’ Better Care Fund and Adult Social Care grants, as well as the additional £2 billion announced in the Spring Budget - councils were given access to £9.25 billion more dedicated funding for social care over the next three years. This means local government is able to increase spending on social care in real terms in each of the next three years.
You may be happy to hear that the Commonwealth Fund, a respected healthcare think-tank which works to improve access to healthcare around the world rated the NHS as the best healthcare system in the world, in an authoritative, comparative study of healthcare systems in developed economies. Whilst there is no room for complacency, I am encouraged that the NHS is performing well, despite many years of difficult financial circumstances.
I wholeheartedly support the Government's increase to the NHS budget. However, the NHS is a public service like any other, and local areas must live within their agreed budgets, otherwise they are effectively unfairly depriving other parts of the NHS of much-needed resources. The so-called 'capped expenditure process' is part of NHS England and NHS Improvement's financial planning, which examines how a small number of NHS areas could do more to balance their budgets, and remain on a financially sustainable footing for the long run.
For mental health, investment is increasing and is being spent. Overall, funding for mental health has gone up by 8.4% since 2014/15. Last year, spend was the highest ever at £11.6bn. From this April, the additional £1bn announced in January 2016 to support the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health started to go out to the NHS. This will boost crisis services, support in A&E and perinatal mental health services. We are making a record £1.4bn available over five years (up to 2020) to improve children’s mental health services, funding a long-awaited revolution in the service.
New financial controls have been introduced to cut down on waste in the NHS, including introducing caps for agency staff and management consultants, and introducing central procurement rules. I am glad to say that the limits on agency spending have saved the NHS roughly £1 billion between 2014 and 2016, to be reinvested in patient care, and the NHS believes there is still significant progress to be made.
The NHS is putting into practice the Getting it Right First Time scheme, first piloted by orthopaedic surgeon Professor Tim Briggs. In 2016, I announced new plans to reduce infection in the NHS and improve surgical practice, which aims to save the NHS a further £1.5 billion per year, which will also be reinvested in patient care.