Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ debut budget pledged increases of £22.6 billion in day-to-day spending for the NHS and £3.1 billion in capital spending over the next two years. The increase in day-to-day spending is intended to fulfil Labour’s campaign promise of “40,000 more appointments per week” from their election manifesto.
This often-repeated promise gives the government a tangible short-term goal in its longer-term mission to meet the 18-week target for elective care. However, while 40,000 additional weekly hospital appointments may sound impressive, a closer look at NHS statistics suggests that this increase is less significant than it first appears.
NHS England conducted about 2 million outpatient appointments per week in 2023-24, meaning that 40,000 more appointments per week would represent only a 2% increase.
In recent years, the average annual increase in weekly outpatient appointments has been 2.9%, meaning that an extra 40,000 appointments per week would be a slower than usual increase.
