NHS to receive £22.6billion cash injection in day-to-day health budget, Rachel Reeves announces

30 October 2024, 15:10 | Updated: 30 October 2024, 15:25

The NHS will receive a £22.6billion cash injection in its day-to-day health budget, Rachel Reeves has announced.

It comes in a bid from the government to cut waiting lists and help with an ongoing staffing crisis in the NHS.

There will also be a £3.1billion increase in the capital budget over this year and next year.

Delivering her Budget in the Commons, Ms Reeves said: "In the spring, we will publish a 10-year plan for the NHS to deliver a shift from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.

"Today, we are announcing a down payment on that plan to enable the NHS to deliver 2% productivity growth next year."

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She continued: "Today, because of the difficult decision that I have taken on tax, welfare and spending, I can announce that I am providing a £22.6bn increase in the day-to-day health budget and a £3.1billion increase in the capital budget over this year and next year.

"This is the largest real-terms growth in day to day NHS spending outside of Covid since 2010. Let me set out what this funding will deliver.

"Many NHS buildings have been left in a state of disrepair. So we will provide £1 billion of health capital investment next year to address the backlog of repairs and upgrades across the NHS estate.

"To increase capacity for tens of thousands more procedures next year, we will provide a further £1.5billion for new beds in hospitals across the country, new capacity for over a million additional diagnostic tests, and new surgical hubs and diagnostic centres so those people waiting for their treatment can get it as quickly as possible."

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Ms Reeves went on to say: "Finally, because of this record injection of funding, because of the thousands of additional beds that we have secured, and because of the reforms that we are delivering in our NHS, we can now begin to bring waiting lists down more quickly and move towards our target for waiting times no longer than 18 weeks.

"By delivering our manifesto commitment for 40,000 extra hospital appointments a week. That is the difference that a Labour government is making."

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on Tuesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he now has the funds to "start turning the NHS around".

"The chancellor has prioritised the NHS to root out waste and inefficiency," he said.

"All of our manifesto commitments, despite the challenges we’ve got, stand today."

Mr Streeting added: "I owe it to taxpayers that their money is well spent."