Sunday 20 November 2022 12:50 AM Health Secretary: 'We will remove barriers that get in the way of what matters ... trends now

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The Chancellor's Autumn Statement delivered a massive boost to the health and social care system. The extra cash, rising to up to £8 billion a year by 2024/25, is urgently needed to strengthen services that we all rely on.

It will help tackle what matters most to patients: improving performance in A&E, reducing the elective care backlog caused by the pandemic, freeing up beds by discharging those who should be cared for at home, and easing the 8am scramble for a GP appointment.

People rightly want this money to go into fixing the frustrations that they face, instead of funding management payrolls and programmes.

Over the next two years, £6.6 billion will be given to the NHS to take rapid action to improve urgent and emergency care. This will help us continue to tackle the Covid backlog and explore options to provide better information to patients and support them to make choices about where to access their care – from any private sector or NHS provider who meets NHS standards and prices.

However, as inflation eats into departmental budgets, it is more important than ever that every person and programme in the NHS is focused on the needs of the patient.