Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on front-line NHS services of the ring-fence on NHS spending.

The Government has taken tough decisions in order to protect the National Health Service budget in the face of the ongoing fiscal challenge.

The Autumn Statement announced further funding of £1.98 billion for frontline NHS services in England in 2015-16. Funding will therefore be £16 billion higher in cash terms in 2015-16 than in 2010-11, which equates to an increase of £6.8 billion in real terms.

Coupled with significant efficiency improvements – with savings of £15 billion reported over the last three years – this has enabled the NHS to continue to meet rapidly rising demands whilst improving the quality of care.

Compared to 2009-10, in 2013-14 there were 8,300 more doctors and 1,300 more nurses supporting 6.1 million more outpatient attendances, 3.6 million more diagnostic tests, 1.3 million more accident and emergency attendances and 1.1 million more hospital admissions. The Cancer Drugs Fund has helped over 55,000 patients, healthcare associated infections have halved and mixed sex accommodation breaches have reduced by 98% since 2010.

The additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement underlines the priority the Government places on the NHS. It will enable the NHS to continue to meet rapidly rising demand in the short term while also providing significant investment for new models of care in order to make the vision set out in the NHS Five Year Forward View a reality and to place the NHS on a sustainable footing for the long term.