“The NHS Is Not Sustainable Going Forward” says Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee Steve Brine MP
The Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee Steve Brine MP has warned that “the NHS is simply not sustainable going forward” without widespread structural reform. Speaking in a recent interview with Healthcomms Consulting, part of the PLMR Group, Brine highlighted that, in his opinion, increasing the NHS budget by an additional £100 billion and increasing the workforce by 25%, still “wouldn’t be enough” to secure the sustainable future of the NHS.
Brine, who previously served as a Health Minister between 2017 and 2019, was speaking as part of the latest episode of Healthcomms Consulting’s From The Frontline podcast. In the interview explained how the NHS is facing an ageing population, rapidly rising costs, and that a “national debate” will be required to ascertain “how much money [UK taxpayers] want to spend on [the NHS]” and whether “we’re prepared to pay for it”.
Brine’s comments follow the Government’s recent allocation of £250 million to increase hospital discharges this winter as part of plans to provide additional capacity for emergency care in NHS hospitals. While Brine welcomed this additional funding, he expressed concern that the allocation of short-term funding by the Government might detract from funding that is required to implement systemic long-term reform in the NHS.
During this interview, Brine outlined his view that “prevention is the magic key to the sustainability of the NHS for its next 75 years.” He expressed concern that “we are always just putting that extra bit of funding in to get over the next bump” and that until the NHS commits more money to preventative measures “we will be stuck in this cycle of chasing our tail for the next bit of money.”
The full interview can be found on the From The Frontline podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Matthew Spencer, host of From The Frontline and a Senior Account Manager at Healthcomms Consulting, part of the PLMR Group, said: “As our health and care system faces extraordinary winter pressures, constructive dialogue and ambitious reform is more urgent than ever. As part of the PLMR group, Healthcomms Consulting has been a longstanding champion of health and social care services. It was a pleasure to hear Steve’s insights, and we look forward to welcoming other experts to discuss solutions to the pressing challenges facing our health and care services on future episodes.”
