Sunday, November 30, 2014

Bank Fines To Help Pay For £3.1bn NHS Boost



Chancellor George Osborne will this week announce plans to use £1.1bn of bank fines to improve family doctors’ services.



In his Autumn Statement on Wednesday, Mr Osborne is expected to say that in addition to the £1.1bn there will be an extra £2bn of money to help transform the NHS making it more efficient for taxpayers and more effective for patients.



He will tell MPs the cash injection is possible because the economy is growing and that under his stewardship the Government has brought the public finances under control.



Speaking on Sunday the Chancellor said funding for the GP improvements would come from bank fines levied on financial institutions for foreign exchange manipulation.



In November five banks were fined a total of £1.1bn by the Financial Conduct Authority for Forex fiddling. This money will be spend upgrading GPs’ services over four years.



The idea of using bank fines to pay for NHS improvements was first suggested by shadow chancellor Ed Balls in a speech earlier this month.



Mr Osborne told The Andrew Marr Show the £3.1bn boost was “a down payment on the NHS’s own long-term plan. It shows you can have a strong NHS if you have a strong economy.”



Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham welcomed the plans but said it would not help GPs and A&E departments already struggling this winter.



He said: “Of course more money will help but it won’t solve the problems that I’ve been describing, the crisis in the NHS is very real indeed. this money will help but will be nowhere near enough.”



Mr Burnham told Sky News Labour would provide an additional £2.5bn a year for the NHS - over and above what Mr Osborne had pledged.



Mr Osborne’s announcement follows the publication of the five-year ‘Forward View’ plan drawn up by the NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens which warned of a looming £8bn funding shortfall by the end of the next parliament.



Mr Stevens welcomed the plans and said: “Today represents an extremely welcome vote-of-confidence in the NHS’ own five year plan.”



Mr Osborne is expected to endorse the Stevens proposals as the best way to deliver “a world class and universal NHS that is sustainable for the long term”.



:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.




Source Article from https://uk.news.yahoo.com/osborne-announce-2bn-lifeline-nhs-030203478.html



Bank Fines To Help Pay For £3.1bn NHS Boost

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