Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of NHS efficiency savings on waiting times in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.
George Freeman
The Government has fully funded the National Health Service’s Five Year Forward View, so that the NHS will receive £10 billion more in real terms by 2020-21 than in 2014-15. This additional funding, alongside measures to improve efficiency and reduce waste will enable delivery of the Government’s mandate to NHS England.
The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2016-17 sets out objectives to 2020. These include the objective that it should support the NHS to maintain, and where possible improve, performance against core standards in line with the NHS Constitution, and the objective to balance the NHS budget and improve efficiency and productivity.
At the same time, the Government is addressing the longer term issues that lead to increased demand by more strongly coordinating health and social care, increasing access to the services seven days a week, reducing unwarranted variations in performance between providers, and supporting the public and patients to take the right steps to look after their own health.
