This week, in the form of a pre-election budget, we were delivered yet more evidence of how little the current political leaders care about the NHS. Today I’m hoping to help you see beyond the rhetoric, and see the reality of a UK budget that represents a real-terms pay freeze for the public healthcare service.
In the run-up to UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring budget yesterday, there was increasingly feverish interest from political pundits and journalists on what the government was going tooffer the public. After all, in an election year, all eyes are on the public polls. Would they offer anything significant enough to boost their public ratings? Would they commit to anything meaningful enough to create a real difference for the millions of struggling people right now?
The answer, sadly (and perhaps predictably) is no. I’d be amazed if anyone felt so enticed by the offerings made yesterday that they decided to vote for the Tories in the upcoming election.Many of the big-ticket items had already been shared with the press ahead of Jeremy Hunt’s speech in Parliament. Despite this, there has been a reasonable amount of coverage digging into the details, particularly around his plans for healthcare spending and the NHS budget.
Let me try to explain what’s been announced, why it is nowhere near good enough, and what we need instead.oo