The government has ‘earmarked’ £100m to upgrading GP practice buildings in a move which it says will boost productivity and support the delivery of more patient appointments.
In the Autumn Budget today, chancellor Reeves committed to providing an additional £22.6bn to the ‘day-to-day health budget’ – including £100m to use on upgrades to 200 general practice estates in England.
The government will also invest around £1.5bn on new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners and new beds, and pledged £600m in funding for local governments to use on social care.
But the budget failed to mention nurses or nursing, and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that while new funding for upgrading healthcare facilities was ‘long overdue’ the profession remained in ‘crisis’.
Ms Reeves told parliament that the additional funding for health was made possible by ‘difficult decisions’ on tax, welfare and spending.
‘This is the largest real-terms growth in day-to-day NHS spending outside of Covid since 2010,’ she said.
The chancellor added: ‘Many NHS buildings have been left in a state of disrepair, so we will provide £1bn of health capital investment next year to address the backlog of repairs and upgrades across our NHS.’
The commitments made by the government today follow concerns raised by general practice nurses (GPNs) over the current state of GP practice buildings.
Earlier this year, GPNs speaking at the RCN’s annual congress said they had been forced to turn cleaning cupboards into clinic rooms and were struggling to take on new nursing students because of a lack of appropriate space and buildings.
Today, RCN general secretary and chief executive professor Nicola Ranger, said: ‘The chancellor’s task was difficult, but the crisis in nursing remains unresolved after today’s budget.
‘Thousands of staff continue to leave the profession, whilst new nurse numbers have collapsed in every English region.
‘We are a safety-critical profession, worthy of infrastructure-style investment.’
She added: ‘New funding for upgrading NHS facilities is long-overdue.
‘But it’s also true that new scanners, more beds and extra appointments need staff.
‘A depleted, worn-out and undervalued profession can’t bring down waiting lists and transform care.’
Professor Ranger warned that the government’s plans to shift care from hospitals into the community would be ‘impossible without investing in the profession’.
‘Further delay and deterioration is against the national interest. Nursing is crying out for change and will become increasingly restless without it,’ she added.
