Health spending to rise by another £11bn in Budget just weeks after NHS was handed £12bn

THE Chancellor will hike health spending by another £11billion – just weeks after the NHS was handed another £12billion a year.

A £6billion package of funding to help tackle NHS backlogs across England will form a major plank of Wednesday’s Budget.

The Chancellor said: ‘We are committed to getting health services back on track and ensuring no one is left waiting for vital tests or treatment’Rishi Sunak will hike health spending by another £11billion – just weeks after the NHS was handed another £12billion a year

And there will be £5billion for cutting edge research and development.

The catch up cash will go toward new mobile testing, checks and scan sites for a range of problems – with these appointments currently making up the vast majority of the Covid backlog.

As well as providing more checks, tests and scans, and help get waiting lists down, £2.3billion of the funding package will be used to try to transform diagnostic services.

The Treasury said there will be at least 100 “one-stop-shop” community diagnostic centres across England, including the 44 already announced.

These centres are expected to help clear most existing test backlogs caused by the pandemic, including for CT, MRI and ultrasound scans, by the end of the parliament.

The Treasury said the additional capacity will also ensure the resilience of the country’s diagnostic services in the years to come.

It was announced over the weekend that the Department of Health and Social Care will also receive £5billion over the next three years to fund research and development.

Health chiefs said last night it will fund genome technology to allow doctors to detect more than 200 conditions in babies, compared with existing tests which can only identify nine.

Some £95million of the funding will go towards the Office for Life Sciences to help with cutting-edge innovations to help treat cancer, obesity and mental ill health.

Last night Mr Sunak said: “We are committed to getting health services back on track and ensuring no one is left waiting for vital tests or treatment.

“This is a game-changing investment in the NHS to make sure we have the right buildings, equipment and systems to get patients the help they need and make sure the NHS is fit for the future.”

Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “Our phenomenal NHS has worked so hard to keep people safe during the pandemic and we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure people are getting the treatment they need as quickly as possible.

“This £6billion investment will support the delivery of millions more checks, scans and procedures for patients across the country.”