The Prime Minister’s announcement of a funded long-term plan for the NHS is very welcome, timely and significant.
The plan has been agreed with NHS leading clinicians and health experts and will secure the future of the NHS by bringing forward a long-term plan for the NHS and a five-year funding settlement.
Under the Government’s plan, NHS funding will grow year on year and by 2023-24 the NHS England budget will increase by £20.5 billion in real terms compared with today. That means there will be £394 million a week additional resource in real terms supporting our precious NHS.
As part of our long-term plan for the NHS, the Government has also announced that doctors and nurses are to be excluded from the cap on skilled worker visas and combined with the expansion of training places up to 2020 it will mean greater numbers of doctors and nurses to provide outstanding patient care.
The 70th anniversary of the NHS, the announcement of a new funding settlement, a long-term plan, and the publication of a social care Green Paper create an historic opportunity to engage all of us as users of the NHS to ensure that current and future generations are able to access the care they need.
The Government are focussed on ensuring that we create a Britain that works for everyone. Today’s NHS long term funding plan is another important step towards achieving that ambition for Britain and all of the residents of my Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.