Mind the gap: The case for more funding for health and care

Article

The NHS is well into its more austere decade ever, whilst funding for social care has declined every year since 2010. The system has attempted to respond to this crunch in resources by increasing productivity – which it has done – but there is now overwhelming evidence that it is also resulting in growing deficits; increased waiting times and the re-emergence of rationing.

Since the creation of the NHS in 1948, spending on health in the UK has grown, on average, by 3.7 per cent per annum, with similar pressures on social care spend, as a result of demographics, rising expectations, and new treatments and technologies coming on stream.

In the wake of the financial crisis in 2010/11 however, while pressures on the system remained, the funding settlement for health and care changed. The NHS is now well into its most austere decade ever and, with the exception of 2015/16, social care funding has declined year on year since 2010.

This paper argues that without further investment in health and care there the health and care service will continue to lag behind the curve. Better quality care will be technically and scientifically possible but will not be delivered without an increase in funding. The evidence suggests that the combined funding gap in health and care will increase to £8.4 billion in 2020/2021 and £28.6 billion in 2030/31.

Related items

  1. Graphic depicting a stack of pound coins in the background and one sideways pound coin displayed on its side in the foreground

    The full-speed economy: Does running a hotter economy benefit workers?

    How a slightly hotter economy might be able to boost future growth.
  2. The outside of Rochdale town hall on a sunny day, with flowers in the foreground

    Making the most of it: Unitarisation, hyperlocal democratic renewal and community empowerment

    Local government reorganisation need not result in a weakening of democracy at the local level.
  3. West Midlands Metro Tram at Victoria Square in Birmingham city centre during 2022 Commonwealth Games

    Transport and growth: Reforming transport investment for place-based growth

    The ability to deliver transformative public transport is not constrained by a lack of ideas, public support or local ambition. It is constrained by the way decisions are taken at the national level.