Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2019 to question 209341: NHS Finance, and with reference to with Department’s press release: Record NHS funding to give patients a better alternative to hospital on 21 November 2018, what the existing NHS budget is referred to in that press release for (a) primary care and (b) community healthcare; what the planned NHS budget is for (i) primary care and (ii) community healthcare in 2023-24; and if he will make a statement.
In the Long Term Plan the National Health Service commits to increasing investment in primary medical and community health services as a share of the total national NHS revenue spend across the five years from 2019/20 to 2023/24. This means spending on these services will be at least £4.5 billion higher in five years’ time. Details of the baseline will be set out by the NHS before spring 2019 as part of the planning round.