Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to increase NHS funding (1) to maintain, and (2) to improve on, existing standards in the light of the increased expenditure required to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been clear that the National Health Service will get whatever funding it needs to respond to COVID-19.
In July, the Chancellor announced an extra £31.9 billion of support for health services and on 24 September, an additional £16.4 billion for health services. As part of this funding we have provided funding to a £3 billion package of additional capacity initiatives to support the NHS through the winter, including keeping the Nightingale hospitals capacity available during winter, accessing increased capacity from independent sector providers, and supporting increased safe discharge of patients from NHS hospitals.