An NHS England board paper has warned that a lack of funding will mean waiting times standards won’t be met next year.

NHS chiefs also said that factoring in England’s growing and aging patient population, NHS revenue per person will fall by 0.4% in 2019/20.

Liberal Democrat former Health Minister Norman Lamb commented:

“This is the inevitable consequence of the government’s continued underfunding of our NHS.

“Patients will suffer longer waiting times for routine operations, while progress towards improving mental health care risks being reversed.

“The public very clearly wants to see more investment in the NHS as a national priority.

“The Liberal Democrats have set out a clear plan to raise £6bn for the NHS and care by putting a penny on income tax.

“We need to be honest with the British people that securing the best possible standards of care will mean all chipping in a little more.”

Notes:

Today’s NHS board paper on planning for 2018-19 can be found here.

It states that:

• “NHS constitution waiting times standards, in the round, will not be fully funded and met next year” (p.4).
• “Factoring in England’s growing and aging patient population, age-weighted NHS revenue growth per person becomes 0.9% in 2018/19 and -0.4% in 2019/20” (p.2).