NHS: Allocation of Financial Resources

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Thursday 11th May 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

The budgets are in the allocations for each ICB and each hospital, and within them there are specific allocations to make sure that these fundings are rooted in the place where they have the most effect. As for making sure that really does happen, it is the responsibility of each ICB to make sure it is doing that. Ministers hold them to account by each having seven ICBs to take care of and make sure that they are hitting those targets.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Stirrup (CB)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, we will hear from the Conservative Benches and then the Cross Benches.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I very much welcome the significant sums of money that have been put into the NHS to date by the Government. It is not just increases in beds that we need in hospitals. We live in an age where we have made significant inroads and innovation in technology, diagnostics and so forth, including artificial intelligence. Will my noble friend the Minister say how new technologies are being used to ensure that patients are not needing the extra beds in hospitals and creating the old mistakes we know of?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I shall answer quickly. As I said, there is already a 13% lower cost in a hospital which is digitally mature. We have virtual wards going in to make sure that we can treat as many as 50,000 patients every month to improve the flow and improve services.