Matt Smith said: “This report acknowledges that we have increased the NHS budget in real terms, recruited more doctors and nurses and are treating more patients than ever, just as public satisfaction with the NHS improves”.
“Our long-term economic plan means we have been able to increase the NHS budget by £12.9 billion this Parliament, and we will increase spending on the NHS each year of the next Parliament. This helps pay for more doctors, nurses, GPs and midwives than ever before, who are treating patients in cleaner, safer hospitals – with the dignity they deserve”.
“As the King’s Fund says, the NHS has ‘performed well in the face of huge challenges’. If we are to continue to invest in the NHS going forward it needs to be backed by a strong economy, delivered by a government with a Long-Term Economic Plan, not a Party that would ‘weaponise’ the NHS for reasons of party pris”.