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NHS could face decade-long budget squeeze
July 04, 2012
The next ten years could see a real terms decrease in health spending, according to the IFS.
The NHS in England could face another ten years of austerity, a new report has claimed.
Researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warn that tight plans for public spending over the coming years could mean a grim outlook for the health service until 2021-22.
This means there could be even more restrictions on eligibility for elective procedures such as joint replacement operations in the future, potentially leading more people to purchase private medical insurance.
Report co-author Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the IFS, said: "The last decade saw the NHS receive large increases in its funding, but the outlook for the 2010s is in sharp contrast to this."
Mr Emmerson revealed that the NHS spending plans up to March 2015 are tighter than any delivered in the last 50 years and that spending "is not likely to keep pace with the amount that it has been estimated it needs to keep pace with the costs of an ageing population".
He also suggested that "serious consideration" should be given to reviewing the services that are available for free on the NHS.
Anita Charlesworth, chief economist at the Nuffield Trust, added that health spending may have to fall in real terms over the coming years, making circumstances "even tougher than they are now".
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