Budget 2024: PwC responds to Budget impact on health sector

Pharma and Life Sciences

Stephen Aherne, pharmaceuticals and life sciences leader at PwC, said:

“There were a number of welcome announcements for the UK Life Sciences sector, such as the retention of the £520m Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing fund, and the protection of £6.1bn of spending for core research, including biotechnology, medical research and the Horizon research association. 

“It was also important to see no negative tinkering with the R&D tax incentives on which many of our groundbreaking life sciences businesses rely. While NHS capital reforms will target additional capacity for diagnostic tests; an imperative for a preventative health agenda, a noticeable absence from the budget, was the explicit support for commercial clinical trials. Supporting partnerships between the NHS and the life sciences sector will be critical to drive adoption of innovative medical technology and improve the health of patients across the UK.”  

Jules Hunt, Health Services Leader, PwC, said:

“Building on the recommendations of the Darzi review, the Budget shows the ambition of the new Government to get the NHS back on track and in particular to tackle non-urgent health care services that are planned in advance.

“Within the additional money for the NHS, the Government is choosing to prioritise the footprint and quality of the NHS estate, including diagnostic equipment, to both protect and enhance capacity to enable a reduction in waiting lists. 

“Yet it is important that the NHS builds on the positive work done to date. We should not lose sight of previous digital and data investment to improve quality, patient experience and boost productivity. 

“To realise the 2% productivity gains that the Chancellor announced, it is critical that we upskill our NHS workforce with the appropriate digital skills to effectively use existing and new digital and data investments. 

“We look forward to seeing how the NHS 10 Year plan and a Comprehensive Spending Review brings together the revised capital investment, digital and data, workforce skills and regional planning to meaningfully address the NHS’ productivity puzzle.”

Nick Lane, Public Sector Infrastructure Director, added:

“Additional capital budgets are welcome and there can be no doubt, building capacity to address waiting lists is a priority. However, experience of previous elective recovery plans have shown that capital allocations without funding for skilled staff to operate new surgical hubs will risk delivery of intended outcomes. 

“It is also critical that capital allocation also focuses upon ensuring adequate investment in existing buildings and capacity given the £14bn backlog in maintenance which is growing c15% year on year. There is a significant risk that elective waiting list recovery is impacted by a reduction in capacity from existing estate where it can no longer be used if the newly announced funding is only focused on ‘new capital’. 

“As the chancellor and Wes Streeting have said, one budget cannot be expected to fix the NHS, but these welcome first steps in financing capital need to be backed up with tools to help trusts spend the capital allocations effectively and open minds for private sector solutions to help make the capital go further and a continued focus on maintenance as well as new build.”