The British finance minister, Rishi Sunak, announced on Sunday (24) that he would unlock an additional 6 billion pounds (US$8,151 billion) to help the public health service (NHS) cope with the delays accumulated during the health crisis. will do. of the new budget.
“Millions of patients awaiting non-urgent clinical trials and surgery will benefit from an injection of £6 billion to help overcome NHS delays,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Of this total, £2.3 billion will go towards setting up about 100 “one-stop” diagnostic centers to detect potentially fatal diseases such as cancer.
1.5 billion pounds will also be earmarked for “increasing the capacity of beds, equipment and new surgical centres.”
The Covid-19 pandemic put pressure on the NHS, a free service favored by the British, which was already suffering from delays and chronic shortages of staff and hospital beds.
In September, the government announced an injection of £5.4 billion to help this public service “manage the urgent pressures” of the health crisis.
“We are committed to bring healthcare back on track and ensure that no one has to wait for a life-saving test or treatment,” Sunak said.
On this day, the finance minister will present his long-awaited budget guidelines aimed at restoring public finances after indebtedness caused by economic assistance programs during the pandemic.
In addition to the health system, the government is expected to prioritize energy transition and regional rebalancing, although it may announce tax increases to cover costly investments.
Over the weekend, his ministry has already announced more than £26 billion (about US$36 billion) in investment, with a quarter earmarked for train and bus renovations and £5 billion for health-related innovative projects. Will go
