Why does the NHS faces unrelenting pressure despite funding rising?

Every 24 hours the NHS sees 1 million patients; it has 1.7 million staff and is the fifth largest employer in the world.

As a result it absorbs eye-watering amounts of money. Last year £140bn was spent on health across the UK – more than ten times the figure that was ploughed in 60 years ago – and 30p out of every £1 of public spending goes on health. Even during the years of deep austerity, extra money has been found for the health service, £8bn more in this Parliament in England alone*.

Yet it seems no matter how much is invested, it’s still not enough. The NHS is creaking at the seams. Key A&E targets are still being missed. Beds are still being blocked and the four plus hour wait doesn’t tell you that the care is below standard, it just tells you that the system is under stress both in hospitals and in the community.

The ageing population is certainly a major factor and all health systems throughout the world struggle with this. People are, as a result of medical advances, living longer. Life expectancy was 13 years shorter when the NHS was created than it is now.

This is a fantastic achievement but it has its burdens.

People are living longer with a growing number of long-term chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia. These illnesses require care and support, which in turn require more money.

An average 65-year-old costs the NHS 2.5 times more than the average 30-year-old. An 85-year-old costs more than five times as much.

Add to this the extortionate and in some cases prohibitive cost of new drugs and it is no wonder the system is at breaking point.We have fewer beds, doctors and nurses per patient in the UK than other countries.

Is the cure to throw more money at the NHS?

Whatever the answer it would not be an overnight fix. Yes, we need more trainee GPs, the posts are there but the NHS cannot fill them. We need more doctors, nurses, midwives and district nurses but above all we need social and community care.

The so-called bed blocking would decrease exponentially if, as has been said many times before, social and community care was in place to be able to care for patients in their own homes. Often our elderly patients do not require care rather than nursing.

Amanda Cavanagh, a member of the Ashtons’ medical negligence team, comments: “We all know that a lack of funding and stretched resources have a detrimental effect on the ability of the NHS and its hardworking staff to function properly and safely. Perhaps more investment into community/social care would alleviate some of the pressure on the NHS. Whatever the solution, the public purse needs to be increased in order to fund it”.

*Source IFS