11 June 2025
An extra £29 billion across a three year period for the NHS was announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review today (11 June).
The extra investment equates to a 3% day-to-day spending increase, and will be in place for the next three years.
The investment will see the NHS technology budget increase by almost 50%, Reeves said.
This will allow an investment of almost £10 billion to “bring [our] analogue health system into the digital age,” including allowing patients access to test results and prescriptions via the NHS app.
Although primary care was not mentioned directly during the Spending Review, shifting care back to the community and investing in prevention will be priorities, Reeves reiterated.
Bringing care out of hospitals and into communities and a focus on prevention are two of the Government’s planned ‘three shifts’ for healthcare.
Investments in these areas will “enable the delivery of our 10-Year Health Plan” and will put the NHS in a strong position for renewal, Reeves said.
The 10-Year Health Plan is expected to be published this summer.
A need for ongoing support
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, welcomed the funding boost, but noted that the £29 billion annual investment alone is unlikely to reduce waiting times to the extent required.
Taylor said: “Health leaders recognise that the NHS is being prioritised for investment over other parts of the public sector. The funding boost is welcome given the precarious state of public finances and will help the NHS to cope with rising demand from an ageing population, often with multiple or more complex physical and mental health conditions.
“But difficult decisions will still need to be made, as this additional £29 billion won’t be enough to cover the increasing cost of new treatments, with staff pay likely to account for a large proportion of it. So, on its own, this won’t guarantee that waiting time targets are met.”
More ongoing support from the Government will be needed in order to redesign services and balance budgets, Taylor believes.Health leaders recognise that the NHS is being prioritised for investment over other parts of the public sector
“That means getting political backing when some services are redesigned or cut, including moving hospital services into the community and closer to people’s homes as part of the Government’s three shifts," he said.
He added: “Given the difficult state of public finances, health leaders will understand that there is only so much vital capital funding to go round.
“But we cannot ignore that today’s flat settlement continues to leave a major shortfall in capital funding and also fails to lift the ban on private investment that is required to boost NHS capital funding.
“This needs to be addressed in the upcoming national infrastructure strategy and 10-Year Health Plan. Only then will the NHS be able to work with the private sector to build new healthcare facilities, including much mooted neighbourhood health hubs, while also supporting economic growth and local regeneration.”
A “treasured public service”
Before laying out her plans, Reeves called the NHS Britain’s “most treasured public service.”
A strong economy relies on a strong NHS, she emphasised.
Contextualising her decisions, Reeves referenced the “immediate injection of funding” that had been committed to at March’s Spring Budget, which she hopes will “get the NHS back on its feet.”
She noted that there have been 3.5 million extra NHS appointments since Labour came to power in July 2024.
This is alongside an NHS waiting list reduction of more than 200,000.
“This is a Spending Review to deliver the priorities of the British people,” Reeves said, adding that investing in health is a key priority for the Government.
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Paddy Optom12 June 2025
The Chancellor is making the same promises we heard during Brexit - control immigration and fund the NHS. But when you look at the details, these promises don't add up.
The money isn't really there
The government claims it will save £1 billion by stopping the use of hotels for asylum seekers. But this saving is just a guess - there's no guarantee it will actually happen.
The NHS isn't getting enough
While NHS spending will go up by 3% each year, this is actually less than what the health service has received on average in the past. So it's not the big boost it sounds like.
Other vital services are being cut
To pay for these headline-grabbing promises, the government is cutting money from transport, schools, and local councils. The Home Office is facing such deep cuts that even if they save money on asylum hotels, they'll still have less money overall.
The bottom line
This spending review is more about political slogans than real solutions.
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