NHS Confederation Boss Says Backlog Maintenance Figures are ‘Deeply Worrying’

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• NHS Confederation Boss Says Backlog Maintenance Figures are ‘Deeply Worrying’

21 October 2024

The CEO of the NHS Confederation has responded to the latest NHS data which suggests the cost to eradicate the estate’s maintenance backlog is £13.8 billion.

NHS England’s report on the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, collated from the mandatory 2023/24 Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC), showed the following:

• The total costs of running the NHS estate were £13.6 billion
• The total energy usage from all energy sources across the NHS estate was 11.1 billion kWh
• The total cost to eradicate the maintenance backlog was £13.8 billion
• The total cost for cleaning services was £1.5 billion
• The total cost of providing inpatient food was £0.8 billion

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “These new figures are deeply worrying and demonstrate just how much the NHS is crying out for vital capital investment. As Lord Darzi pointed out, the health service has been starved of capital funding for more than a decade and the result is an NHS estate that is in desperate need of extensive repairs – particularly those trusts who have issues with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).”

Matthew is referring to Lord Darzi’s independent report on the state of the NHS, which noted that services were disrupted at 13 hospitals a day in 2022-23 due to issues with building maintenance, pointing to a lack of capital budget.

The NHS Confederation has published a discussion paper advising how to raise capital to help the NHS maintain financial security, including releasing and repurposing capital tied into surplus estate and greater freedom to borrow funds.

“The cost to eradicate backlog maintenance has risen to £13.8 billion, more than the £13.6 billion total cost of running the entire NHS estate. Time and again capital funding pots have been raided to prop up deficits which stemmed from a decade of underinvestment."

–Matthew Taylor

Chief Executive – NHS Confederation

He continued: “The cost to eradicate backlog maintenance has risen to £13.8 billion, more than the £13.6 billion total cost of running the entire NHS estate. Time and again capital funding pots have been raided to prop up deficits which stemmed from a decade of underinvestment.

“NHS leaders and their teams have been working incredibly hard to keep patients safe despite having to work in crumbling or even sometimes dangerous facilities or with out-of-date equipment.

“It is clear that the NHS must have more capital funding if it is going to tackle crumbling estates, replace out-dated equipment, invest in the latest digital technologies and boost productivity. Health leaders have told us that they need an annual rise in capital funding of £6.4 billion each year of the current spending review period if they are going to achieve these ambitions.”

Picture: a photograph of a hospital corridor. Image Credit: Adobe Stock

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 21 October 2024

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