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| Jeremy Hunt raises doubts about long-term future of free NHS | Jeremy Hunt raises doubts about long-term future of free NHS |
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| Jeremy Hunt has raised doubts about the NHS remaining an entirely taxpayer-funded service in the long term, days after a fellow health minister also warned that soaring demand for patient care could force a rethink on where its money comes from. | Jeremy Hunt has raised doubts about the NHS remaining an entirely taxpayer-funded service in the long term, days after a fellow health minister also warned that soaring demand for patient care could force a rethink on where its money comes from. |
| The health secretary expressed doubts about the future sustainability of the funding system that has existed since the service’s creation in 1948 after delivering a speech setting out his “25-year vision for the NHS” in London on Thursday. | The health secretary expressed doubts about the future sustainability of the funding system that has existed since the service’s creation in 1948 after delivering a speech setting out his “25-year vision for the NHS” in London on Thursday. |
| His comments come days after David Prior, the ex-Conservative MP and hospital trust chairman who recently became a health minister in the Lords, warned that the premise of a tax-funded model would have to be questioned if patient demand for care outstripped economic growth. | His comments come days after David Prior, the ex-Conservative MP and hospital trust chairman who recently became a health minister in the Lords, warned that the premise of a tax-funded model would have to be questioned if patient demand for care outstripped economic growth. |
| Hunt’s speech also led to a major clash with the British Medical Association over his threat to force senior hospital doctors to work at weekends unless they agree to do so within six weeks. The BMA condemned Hunt’s move as “a wholesale attack on doctors”, amid speculation that consultants could consider taking industrial action in protest. | Hunt’s speech also led to a major clash with the British Medical Association over his threat to force senior hospital doctors to work at weekends unless they agree to do so within six weeks. The BMA condemned Hunt’s move as “a wholesale attack on doctors”, amid speculation that consultants could consider taking industrial action in protest. |
| Asked on Thursday if he could guarantee that the current NHS funding model – with the £117bn budget solely provided by taxpayers – could survive for the next 25 years, Hunt replied: “I am confident but I don’t have a crystal ball. If I look at the challenges we face in delivering the Forward View [NHS England’s blueprint for the service’s transformation by 2020], I think that our model will work. But it’s going to need a huge effort from NHS organisations and NHS leaders to deliver that.” | Asked on Thursday if he could guarantee that the current NHS funding model – with the £117bn budget solely provided by taxpayers – could survive for the next 25 years, Hunt replied: “I am confident but I don’t have a crystal ball. If I look at the challenges we face in delivering the Forward View [NHS England’s blueprint for the service’s transformation by 2020], I think that our model will work. But it’s going to need a huge effort from NHS organisations and NHS leaders to deliver that.” |
| Related: Why Jeremy Hunt is wrong: NHS medical staff respond to ultimatum | |
| Labour claimed that Hunt’s failure to rule out any change to the existing system could mean that charges might ultimately be introduced for NHS services. | Labour claimed that Hunt’s failure to rule out any change to the existing system could mean that charges might ultimately be introduced for NHS services. |
| “Jeremy Hunt’s refusal to guarantee that an NHS free-at-the-point-of-use will continue under the Tories is very worrying indeed, though sadly not surprising given he once put his name to a pamphlet arguing the NHS should be replaced with an insurance-based system,” said shadow health minister Jamie Reed. | “Jeremy Hunt’s refusal to guarantee that an NHS free-at-the-point-of-use will continue under the Tories is very worrying indeed, though sadly not surprising given he once put his name to a pamphlet arguing the NHS should be replaced with an insurance-based system,” said shadow health minister Jamie Reed. |
| “It could mean charges for treatment are just around the corner. Prior to the election American doctors warned that the Tories were taking the NHS down a path towards a US-style system and it now looks as if this was a prescient warning,” he added. | “It could mean charges for treatment are just around the corner. Prior to the election American doctors warned that the Tories were taking the NHS down a path towards a US-style system and it now looks as if this was a prescient warning,” he added. |
| “The truth is that the NHS simply won’t be here in 25 years’ time if the Tories are allowed to continue with their toxic plans for cuts, charges and privatisation.” | “The truth is that the NHS simply won’t be here in 25 years’ time if the Tories are allowed to continue with their toxic plans for cuts, charges and privatisation.” |
| Hunt recently endorsed “in principle” patients being charged for not turning up for a GP appointment, as a way of reducing waste in the NHS. However, Downing Street quickly disowned the idea and stressed there was no intention to introduce such a system. | Hunt recently endorsed “in principle” patients being charged for not turning up for a GP appointment, as a way of reducing waste in the NHS. However, Downing Street quickly disowned the idea and stressed there was no intention to introduce such a system. |
| Lord Prior also backed calls from peers for experts to investigate how best the NHS can continue to receive the money it needs to cope with rising demand, technological change and increasing patient expectations about their treatment. | Lord Prior also backed calls from peers for experts to investigate how best the NHS can continue to receive the money it needs to cope with rising demand, technological change and increasing patient expectations about their treatment. |
| His comments came during a House of Lords debate on the NHS on 9 July, which had gone unreported until now. | His comments came during a House of Lords debate on the NHS on 9 July, which had gone unreported until now. |
| Related: Patients could be charged for missed NHS appointments, says Jeremy Hunt | |
| Responding to Lord Patel, Prior replied that he was happy “to discuss this [the future funding of the NHS] in more detail to see whether we can frame some kind of independent inquiry. I do not think that it needs to be a royal commission.” | Responding to Lord Patel, Prior replied that he was happy “to discuss this [the future funding of the NHS] in more detail to see whether we can frame some kind of independent inquiry. I do not think that it needs to be a royal commission.” |
| Experts such as the King’s Fund or Nuffield Trust health thinktanks could undertake the work, he suggested. | Experts such as the King’s Fund or Nuffield Trust health thinktanks could undertake the work, he suggested. |
| “At heart, our ability to have a world-class health system will depend on our ability to create the wealth in this country to fund it. I am personally convinced, having looked at many other funding systems around the world, that a tax-funded system is the right one.” | “At heart, our ability to have a world-class health system will depend on our ability to create the wealth in this country to fund it. I am personally convinced, having looked at many other funding systems around the world, that a tax-funded system is the right one.” |
| But he then countenanced the possibility of that system ending when he said: “However, if demand for healthcare outstrips growth in the economy for a prolonged period, of course that premise has to be questioned.” | But he then countenanced the possibility of that system ending when he said: “However, if demand for healthcare outstrips growth in the economy for a prolonged period, of course that premise has to be questioned.” |
| His idea is similar to that put forward during the election campaign by the then coalition Liberal Democrat health minister, Norman Lamb. The pressures on the NHS’s current and future funding were so great that politicians needed to set aside their differences and convene a non-partisan commission to see how the service’s needs could be best met, he urged. | His idea is similar to that put forward during the election campaign by the then coalition Liberal Democrat health minister, Norman Lamb. The pressures on the NHS’s current and future funding were so great that politicians needed to set aside their differences and convene a non-partisan commission to see how the service’s needs could be best met, he urged. |
| “It’s never been more pressurised on the NHS frontline than today,” Hunt told NHS leaders in his speech at the King’s Fund. | “It’s never been more pressurised on the NHS frontline than today,” Hunt told NHS leaders in his speech at the King’s Fund. |
| He supported the way the NHS was currently funded as the best model. “But I think the principle that sits behind it is one that we all feel very strongly about. Social equity is at the heart of what the NHS stands for. It’s what makes the British public say time after time it is what makes them most proud to be British. | He supported the way the NHS was currently funded as the best model. “But I think the principle that sits behind it is one that we all feel very strongly about. Social equity is at the heart of what the NHS stands for. It’s what makes the British public say time after time it is what makes them most proud to be British. |
| “But if we’re going to continue to deliver that we have to be ambitious about new models of care,” he added. | “But if we’re going to continue to deliver that we have to be ambitious about new models of care,” he added. |