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1/11 We're expecting an important announcement from the new Government about NHS capital funding in the next 72 hours. What do NHS providers actually need? @NHSProviders' thoughts in the following 11 tweet thread - what we've been arguing for over the last week.
2/11 New Government NHS announcement needs to acknowledge the full size and scale of the NHS capital challenge that has built up over the last nine years - ageing equipment, crumbling buildings....and that we now need to rebuild the NHS.
3/11 New Government NHS announcement needs to deliver real, new, capital, that genuinely reaches frontline quickly. Frankly, NHS frontline leaders fed up with reheated, half truth, politically spun, promises on NHS capital that are never what they seem / fully followed through.
4/11 New Government NHS announcement must immediately reverse current "take 20% out of 2019/20 capital plans" exercise & increase @DHSCgovuk CDEL capital limit accordingly so we can start tackling the £6bn NHS provider maintenance backlog, £3bn of which is safety critical.
5/11 If new Government announcement invests in "hospital upgrades", £ needs to be fairly split between acute, mental health, community and ambulance services. NHS frontline leaders frustrated that far too many politicians think secondary care just = hospitals when it doesn't!
6/11 When choosing where to invest in NHS "hospital upgrades", new Government needs to resist temptation to play electoral politics and only allocate £ to where it will buy most votes. It needs to focus, instead, on where patient safety need and patient benefit are greatest.
7/11 New Government needs to make clear that any NHS capital announcement at this point is just a first down payment on rebuilding the NHS. It needs to clearly commit to substantial further funds following, given size and scale of the task required.
8/11 NHS capital announcements are often used as an opportunity for funding politicians' pet projects / bright new ideas. It's vital that any new capital spending beyond estates is spent in complete alignment with NHS long term plan we've all worked hard on and agreed......
9/11 .... For example, investing in our woefully inadequate (by international comparisons) diagnostic equipment base would be a good way to speed up the NHS Long Term Plan's important commitment to improve cancer outcomes - another area where we lag behind comparator nations.
10/11 Frontline NHS leaders feel very strongly that the way the NHS currently allocates capital is completely broken and not fit for purpose. New announcement needs to commit to quickly creating a much faster and clearer capital regime with frontline prioritisation a key part.
11/11 Funding for any new NHS capital injection must be genuinely new and additional - not just bringing forward later year, already announced, NHS capital or revenue funding. Funding approach needs to be clearly spelt out in the announcement with no smoke and mirrors please.
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