The many problems facing the health service meant it was now more difficult for it to do its job and would become even more difficult, said Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England. “When I started this job, I think I said then that I thought the pandemic would be the hardest thing any of us had to do. In the last year I have become really clear and I have said many times: this is where we are now. It is the months and years that will bring the most complex challenges,” he said. “And that’s not to take anything away, by the way, from how particularly tough some of that early period of the pandemic was. But… I think it’s harder now. Why; Because, in part, we no longer have a single unifying mission.” Instead, he said, “we’re dealing with paradoxes, we’re dealing with complexity, and we’re dealing with uncertainty.” The NHS is struggling to tackle a range of problems including long waits for A&E care and a hospital bed, ambulances being delayed when responding to 999 calls, lack of access to GP appointments and falling public satisfaction. Bodies such as the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which represents A&E doctors, have begun to warn that potentially thousands of patients a month are harmed – and some die – as a result of having to wait for an ambulance back before entering in a casualty unit or hospital bed to begin treatment. Speaking at the annual conference of the King’s Fund Health thinktank in London, Pritchard admitted that the NHS’s huge problems meant that patients did not always get the best care. “It’s the question most likely to keep you up at night, most likely to motivate you in the morning. Are your patients receiving the standard of care they deserve? We know we can’t always answer yes to that question.” The huge pressures on the NHS have helped convince the new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to exempt it from Whitehall’s new round of planned spending cuts. But Pritchard made it clear she was lobbying ministers for the agency to receive an even bigger budget to cover up to £7bn a year of unexpected costs it is expected to absorb. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The NHS was facing unfunded extra costs of £5.6bn this year alone, Pritchard said. This is because it has had to cover part of the cost of the NHS staff pay deal, ongoing Covid costs and inflation driving up the cost of energy, food and basic supplies. In addition, NHS England has already agreed to make £12bn of ‘efficiency savings’ between now and 2024-25. Asked if she was seeking an increase in the NHS budget, which is expected to be £152 billion this year and rise to £162 billion by 2024-25, she said: “That is something we are discussing with the government at the moment. They know NHS budgets will only stretch so far.” A government spokesman said: “The NHS is focused on new ways of working to increase efficiency, save staff time and ensure value for money. Our Patient Plan sets out the next steps, including removing unnecessary red tape to improve patient access and speed up hospital discharge.”
