The Liberal Democrats have said George Osborne should pump an extra £1.5bn into the NHS. This comes in advance of next month’s autumn statement on December the 3rd during which the Chancellor will lay out his plans.
Lib Dems urging for £1.5bn to be pumped into NHS
This view is supported by Health Minister Norman Lamb, who believes that further delaying investing more money in the NHS until after the elections would ‘betray’ patients. Similar echoes are being hear throughout the health sector, including the warnings of NHS England’s head Simon Stevens who has said that the NHS will need £8 billion extra a year by 2020.
Lamb has said: ‘
Mr Lamb said: “Liberal Democrats want to create opportunity for everyone by building a stronger economy and a fairer society. That means properly funding our NHS for the future, and providing better care, both for physical and mental health.
“But this needs to start straight away. Too often politicians take the easy way out and delay big spending decisions in the hope they become someone else’s problem.
“Doing that would betray patients. The NHS needs significantly more money to help trusts adapt to the changing needs of our population and it can’t afford to wait.
“That’s why securing extra money for the NHS must be a high priority for the whole Government in next month’s autumn statement. And we want at least an extra billion pounds put in every year in the next Parliament too.
“A significant amount of that needs to go on improving mental health services, especially for children and young people. For too long mental health has been seen as a second class issue in the NHS and the Liberal Democrats are determined that changes.
“The Liberal Democrats are the only party that will invest more in our public services once we have finished the job of clearing the deficit in 2018.
“We are the only party putting equality for mental health treatment front and centre of our manifesto, with £500 million of extra funding.
“And we are the only party calling for real improvement from the bottom up, joining up health and care to give people care closer to home. The NHS and care need both resources and reform – not top down reorganisation but change driven by local needs to improve out-of-hospital support.’
