More than nine in 10 (92%) NHS leaders think the upcoming 2024/25 year will be more challenging than 2023/24, a new survey from NHS Providers has revealed.
The survey puts the financial strain the NHS is under in focus, as leaders report being worried about delivering targets.
NHS Providers’ CEO, Sir Julian Hartley, describes the situation as the “longest and deepest squeeze in NHS financial history” before urging the health system to “recognise the value of investment in the NHS”.
Survey results
In this latest poll, almost one in two (46%) of the NHS leaders who preside over organisations delivering A&E services said it is likely their trust will meet the new target of seeing 78% of A&E attendees within four hours by next March.
NHS Providers also found that half (51%) of health service chiefs were extremely worried about delivering operational priorities for the 2024/25 financial budget. Regarding their financial position:
- nine in 20 (44%) forecasted a deficit for 2024/25;
- slightly more (45%) forecasted their trust to breakeven; while
- one in 10 (11%) forecasted a surplus.
"There are real deep-seated worries about NHS funding and how those pressures are intensifying,” said Hartley.
“Budgets and services are stretched to the limit in the face of mounting demand and pressure. It’s never felt tougher.”
The NHS wants multi-year funding settlements that allow leaders to plan for the long term, rather than relying on short-term cash pots.
Sir Julian Hartley concluded: “We need to see a more strategic, long-term mindset that maps out a route to a sustainable, high quality, high value NHS."
Widespread impact
The news comes shortly after the NHS Confederation’s CEO, Matthew Taylor, urged chancellor Rachel Reeves to address the NHS’s weakening financial position at the earliest possible opportunity.
Money issues are leading to access issues, with only a third (32%) of respondents feeling confident that their trust will deliver targets to reduce waiting times for physical health services in 2024/25 – this figure was less than one in 10 (8%) for mental health service recovery targets.
This is having a particularly profound impact on children and young people as was revealed in another report earlier this year.
It found that the vast majority (82%) of trust leaders did not believe their organisation could meet the current demand for children and young people’s services.
This also came just before a report from the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau found that some of society’s most vulnerable children are more likely to be turned away from NHS child and adolescent mental health services.
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