Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Veronica German has expressed alarm at a Welsh Assembly Government report that admits that increases in health funding in Wales have fallen significantly compared to the NHS in England over the past six years.
‘Delivering a Five-Year Service, Workforce and Financial Strategic Framework for NHS Wales’ exposes how annual cash growth in NHS Wales funding has lagged behind growth in England over the last 6 years by a third and will continue to do so in 2010-11, leaving the Welsh NHS on a less financially secure platform to face tighter spending in years to come.
The report also states that if corrective action is not taken to deal with the financial difficulties NHS Wales faces, the NHS may not be sustainable in the future.
Veronica: “The shocking report reveals for the first time that the momentum of improvements to the funding of our health service has stalled significantly compared to England. If this has been the case for the past 6 years, there will be deep concern about the very financial future of the NHS as public spending tightens.
“That is why it is scandalous that the Health Minister has repeatedly refused to ensure that money is being spent effectively within the NHS. She has spent millions of pounds on costly reorganisations, refused to look at claims that a fifth of her budget is spent ineffectively and refusal to cut the number of senior management posts. At the same time we have lagged behind England in waiting list performance, ambulance response times, stroke services and cancer survival rates.
“Cost pressures on the Welsh NHS will continue to grow regardless of the difficult financial years ahead as cost of drugs and services increase, however, the most important question that we face now is what this means for the future of health funding in Wales and patient care.
“This Labour-Plaid government has left the Welsh NHS in a very fragile position to be able to deal with the difficult financial years ahead. The report itself says that Wales enters a more challenging economic period from a less financially secure platform, a situation which will cause concern for a great deal of patients in Wales.
“This report will raise questions about Health Minister’s ability to deal with the financial challenges of the Welsh NHS.”
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