NEWS: Government’s NHS Funding Welcome, But Insufficient

The BMA praises new NHS investment but warns it falls short of covering immediate healthcare needs, particularly in general practice and tax reforms for doctor

In response to the government’s Autumn Statement, Professor Philip Banfield, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) council, acknowledged a positive shift in government investment toward the NHS. However, he warned that while the financial commitments represent a promising step forward, they fall short of addressing immediate critical needs within the UK healthcare system.

Professor Banfield said “It’s welcome news that the Government has listened to our calls to begin re-investing in the health service. However, despite what seem like huge headline numbers, given the current precarious state of the NHS, this is not going to put the NHS back on its feet immediately – but it is a promising start.”

The BMA had called for a funding increase of at least £40 per patient per year, which would amount to only 11 pence per patient daily. However, the Autumn Statement made no provision for this.

Professor Banfield went on to say, “What is glaringly absent from today’s Budget is a concrete plan to rebuild general practice. GPs are the front door of the NHS, and we asked the Government to increase their funding by at least £40 per patient per year – just 11p per day. Instead, the increase in employment costs will squeeze GP practices even further. We need to see immediate reassurance from the Government that it will provide additional funding to general practice to cover these costs.”

Regarding pension reform, Banfield welcomed the lack of further changes but criticized the government’s failure to remove tax disincentives that limit doctors’ capacity to take on additional work.

“It was sensible to see no further detrimental reforms to pension taxation rules. However, it’s disappointing, at a time when we need all doctors’ hands on deck to clear near-record backlogs in care and huge pressures across the NHS, that the Government has ignored our calls to remove financial barriers to doctors taking on additional work. No doctor should be in the position where they are effectively paying to work.

The poorly designed tapered annual allowance means £1 extra in earnings can trigger a tax charge of up to £22,500 on hypothetical pensions growth. Similarly, the taper of the personal allowance and of childcare and child benefit discourages many doctors from taking on additional work, which disproportionally affects women. It will be impossible for the Government to deliver the additional 40,000 evening and weekend appointments each week to clear waiting lists, with doctors declining extra work or reducing hours because of these significant flaws in the tax structure.

But overall, this signifies intent and will represent genuine progress once general practice costs are properly funded.”