NHS 'facing funding gap of up to £2bn' in England

Population growth is among the factors increasing pressure on NHS funds

The NHS in England faces a funding gap of up to £2bn in its budget for the next financial year, the BBC understands.

Senior health sources told the BBC growing costs would outstrip the money the NHS received from April 2015.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is involved in Whitehall talks on whether new money is needed to plug the gap.
The Department of Health said it was "confident" it would "make the savings necessary to meet rising demand".
The NHS's budget in England for 2015 has been set at about £100bn.
'On track' The NHS has experienced a prolonged budget freeze as part of the government's plan to reduce the UK deficit.

“Start Quote

We've got to fundamentally rethink the way the NHS provides its services”

Mike Farrar NHS Confederation

Its budget has been protected from cuts which have affected most other government departments, but spending has risen only at the rate of inflation.

Factors including population growth have led to increasing demand on NHS services and higher NHS pension costs have added to the financial pressure.
In a statement, the Department of Health said: "The NHS is on track to make £20bn savings this parliament and we are confident that it will continue to make the savings necessary to meet rising demand."
But some health chiefs told the BBC the sums for the financial year beginning next April did not add up.
And in a survey of its members, the NHS Confederation, which represents senior health service managers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, found managers were facing serious financial pressures.
Many said care had already been affected and expected the impact to grow over the coming months.
The confederation's chief executive, Mike Farrar, said: "Our members are saying we're doing our utmost to sustain our services and maintain standards but when we look ahead we've been doing that by taking short-term measures.
"Now we've probably got to fundamentally rethink the way the NHS provides its services."
'Gap after savings' Meanwhile, an estimate by the health regulator, Monitor, underlines the possible scale of the challenge.
It says there is a funding gap of just over £5bn for 2015-16 in the NHS in England's £78bn commissioning budget for all secondary healthcare - which makes up about three quarters of its total budget and includes hospitals and mental health services.
Even after all realistic efficiency savings are made, Monitor says, a deficit of £1.6bn will remain in this section of the budget.
The concerns over the NHS budget in England come after recent research by the Nuffield Trust suggested the NHS in Wales was facing a £2.5bn funding gap over the next decade.
Health minister Mark Drakeford said that report, commissioned by the Welsh government, recognised long-term savings could be made if services continued to be reformed.