Press release

More NHS funding to drive improvement

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley today announced that the NHS will get a funding boost of over £2.5 billion in 2012/13

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

£91.6 billion to go direct to frontline NHS

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley today announced that the NHS will get a funding boost of over £2.5 billion to provide services for patients in 2012-13.

Next year, £91.6 billion will go direct to Primary Care Trusts - a 2.8 per cent increase in total allocations.

This investment in the NHS represents a real-terms increase in health spending and shows the Government’s determination to ensure that patients have access to high quality local NHS services - a significant step given the difficult economic climate.

The £91.6bn investment in the NHS can be broken down by:

  • £87.5 billion for allocations to Primary Care Trusts to provide care for local patients. This includes £300m for reablement services to help give people the community care they need to become more independent after being in hospital, which is double the £150m invested in 2011/12.
  • £4.1 billion will be invested in dental and eye care, pharmaceutical services and support for joint working between health and social care.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, said:

I am committed to the NHS and to services for patients.  We are continuing to meet our commitment to increase the NHS budget in real terms.  This will  mean a £2.5bn increase next year.

The extra investment gives Primary Care Trusts a strong platform to sustain and improve NHS services for patients.  But despite this extra spending, the NHS must still strive to get the best value out of every penny it spends to meet rising demand and continue to improve results for patients.

In the future, we want those closest to patients - doctors, nurses and other clinicians - to be in charge of the NHS budget to deliver care for patients.  Next year, the NHS will be bringing clinical leadership to the forefront in planning services for patients.

The allocations place the NHS in a strong position to deliver the Government’s national priorities set out in the recently published 2012-13 NHS Operating Framework.

Notes to Editors

1.    A table detailing all the PCT allocations can be found on the Department of Health website.

2.    The real terms increase in funding is 0.1 percentage points above the GDP deflator inflation rate.

3.    Since the start of 2011/12, we will have invested £450m in reablement services.

4.    Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, this will be the last round of allocations made to PCTs as the NHS Commissioning Board would be responsible for the allocation of resources and pace of change policy to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) from 2013-14.

5.    For further information, please contact the Department of Health press office on 020 7210 5221.

Published 14 December 2011