Hospitals could have to ration treatment and even charge patients on the NHS due to critical cash crisis
A staggering £22 billion is needed to plug a NHS funding blackhole by 2020 and patients could be badly hit
THE NHS will soon have to ration treatment and charge patients, experts claim.
Staff will have to be axed because of an ongoing cash crisis, says NHS Providers.
The body, which represents hospitals in England, is calling for extra investment in the autumn statement.
It said years of underfunding has left the service facing impossible demands. It comes as figures show admissions are six per cent up on last year, three times the forecast.
Some £22billion is needed by 2020 to plug the funding black hole, and even with annual two per cent savings it would still be £6billion then.
The agency staff bill was £3.6billion for 2015/16, showing how much pressure the NHS is under.
And 94 per cent of A&E departments missed their four-hour deadline to treat admissions from January to March.
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NHS Providers boss Chris Hopson said the service was “increasingly failing to do the job it wants to do and the public needs it to do, through no fault of its own”.
He added: “The logical areas to examine would be more draconian rationing of access to care, formally relaxing performance targets and shutting services.”
