Julian Highlights Health Funding Reform as Key Election Priority
April 20, 2015
Julian has reiterated his commitment to achieving fairer health funding for our area, as set out in his six point plan to secure a better future for the constituency.
Since his election in 2010, Julian has been campaigning tirelessly, both locally and in Parliament, to try to resolve the unfair funding formula which allocates money to Clinical Commissioning Groups and before that Primary Care Trusts.
He has stated:
“I believe this is an extremely serious matter as it impacts on everybody’s care in the region, and I have always felt we have been unfairly penalised.”
The current formula is weighted towards deprivation at the expense of age and rurality, leading to some areas being awash with money, whilst others like York and North Yorkshire having to take difficult decisions over healthcare provisions, such as with IVF and pain relief injections. North Yorkshire has the highest proportion of over 85’s in the North, but receives the lowest funding per person. Mr Sturdy believes this is extremely unfair, as it costs over eight times more for the NHS to care for a patient over the age of 85, than for someone who is under 40.
Julian said:
“I have raised this matter many times with Ministers and hosted several debates in Parliament on the issue which gained cross party support. Despite some successes, with one cycle of IVF now being offered on the NHS here in York, our area remains extremely disadvantaged by the current formula. This means that local people aren’t getting the same access to treatments as some of our neighbours in more metropolitan areas like Leeds and Hull. For this reason, rebalancing the national health funding formula is one of my key election priorities and a vital part of my six point plan for York Outer.”
Thanks to the strong economy delivered by the Conservative Party in Government, the past five years have seen £12.9 billion more investment into the service. Mr Cameron has also pledged to put £2 billion extra every year into frontline services from April. This means if the Conservative Party is re-elected in May it will fund the NHS’s own plan for the future, the ‘Five-Year Forward View’ and fill in the potential £8 billion black hole in the NHS’ finances highlighted by Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England. In addition to this they also plan to ensure a 7-day GP service throughout England by 2020.
