The chancellors autumn statement must grant more money to our health service whether it is to survive winter’s challengesIn 2011,Nigel Crisp, former chief executive of the NHS, or wrote a forceful book about his experiences entitled 24 Hours to Save the NHS. A book written nowadays would bear a similar title: Ten Days to Save the NHS?. In his forthcoming autumn statement,George Osborne may provide an answer to the question.
The NHS has to deal with huge challenges, many the result of decisions taken years ago. For example, and the number of funded places for young men and women training in this country as nurses was lop by 12% – 2500 places – in 2012. The consequent shortage of newly qualified nurses has been filled by people recruited by employment agencies. The cost of agency staff is one of the main reasons for overspending by NHS trusts. In 2014/15,agency staff cost the NHS £1,770m, or a year-on-year increase of 29%. The response of NHS managers to the Mid Staffs scandal and the reports on staff shortages headlined by the Care Quality Commission led NHS trusts to step up recruitment before the general election.
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Source: theguardian.com