Challenge facing health service greater than it was at peak of pandemic, says Amanda Pritchard.
Image source, Getty ImagesPatients are not always getting the care they deserve, says the head of NHS England.
Amanda Pritchard told a conference the pressures on hospitals, maternity care and services caring for vulnerable people with learning disabilities were of concern.
She even suggested the challenge facing the health service now was greater than it was at the height of the pandemic.
Despite making savings, the NHS still needs extra money to cope, she said.
Next year the budget will rise to more than £157bn, but NHS England believes it will still be short of £7bn.
Ms Pritchard told the King’s Fund annual conference in London that demand was rising more quickly than the NHS could cope with.
“I thought that the pandemic would be the hardest thing any of us ever had to do,” she said.
“Over the last year, I’ve become really clear…. it’s the months and years ahead that will bring the most complex challenges.”
‘Budgets will only stretch so far’
She said the thing that kept her and health leaders awake at night was whether patients were getting the standard of care they deserve.
“We know we cannot always answer yes to that question.”
She told delegates at the conference that discussions were under way with the government about money ahead of the 17 November Budget.
She said the NHS continued to find efficiency savings, ensuring it spent every £1 of taxpayer money wisely.
But she added: “NHS budgets will only stretch so far.”
Ms Pritchard’s warnings come as the backlog for hospital treatment has hit a record seven million, and long waits for ambulances and in A&E continue to cause concern.
But she praised the “sheer hard work and ingenuity” of staff, saying without their efforts the impact on patients would be worse.
Speaking later at the event, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said “significant” extra investment was needed.
“Given that the NHS is going through the biggest crisis in its history it would be outrageous if patients are left paying the price for the fact the Conservatives have crashed the economy.
“We’ve got to make sure that the NHS receives the resources it needs to deal with the biggest backlogs in its history.
“But we are also clear as the last Labour government showed that investment has to go alongside reform.
“We’ve got to shift the model of care from one that does late diagnosis and expensive treatment to one of that does faster diagnosis, better treatment and better value for the tax payer in the process.”