NHS to receive additional £20.5 billion each year from 2018 Budget

The NHS will receive an additional £20.5 billion a year until 2023-24, according to the Budget released yesterday.

The confirmation follows Theresa May’s statement in June of this year in which she suggested that an additional £20 billion could be seen as a ‘Brexit dividend’ which would be funded by the "sum of money that is available from the European Union."

Notably the new budget will see mental health services receive an additional £2 billion each year, as it was suggested that the "government is committed to achieving parity of esteem between mental health and physical health services, ensuring that high quality mental health support is available for those that need it, in appropriate, safe settings."

This additional funding will see an investment of £250 million a year into new mental health crisis centres with the intention of alleviating strain on Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments across the country.

The additional £2 billion will also cover children and young person’s crisis teams, additional mental health ambulances, 24/7 support via the NHS 111 hotline and community services such as crisis cafes.

The increase represents a 3.4% annual increase; however the figure is still less than the overall average annual rise of 3.7% since 1948.

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn responded to the budget in suggesting that "What we heard today were half measures and quick fixes while austerity grinds on." He added that the additional funding was a "drop in the ocean" in comparison to the funding necessary.