Extra health funding would be ‘consumed by pay and overspend pressures’

Any extra funding provided for health services in Northern Ireland would be mostly consumed by pay and overspend pressures, a senior Stormont civil servant has predicted.

Peter May, permanent secretary at the Department of Health, also said that “we will never have enough money to do everything we want” in health and social care.

Mr May was speaking at the annual conference of the Northern Ireland Branch of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) on Friday, where he said that political leadership and mature public debate is needed.

Northern Ireland’s health service is facing significant budget pressures and currently has the longest hospital waiting lists in the UK.

No health minister is in place while the powersharing institutions remain suspended.

Mr May told the conference that there is ongoing speculation about whether the Stormont Executive will return and if this would be accompanied by additional funding for public services.

He said: “We will have to wait and see but I do not anticipate that any financial settlement could conceivably resolve all our challenges.

“If extra funding does come, it is expected to be mostly consumed by pay and overspend pressures.

“The reality is that in health and social care, we will never have enough money to do everything that we want.

“The competing demands for extra funding cannot all be met, not now and not in the foreseeable future.

“There will inevitably be limits on what we can do. Choices will have to be made and priorities agreed.

“That’s a central reason why we need political leadership, mature public debate and collective decision making.”

Mr May said efficiency and productivity savings are a core requirement in health, but stressed they could not “bridge the widening gap between demand and capacity”.

He added: “Additional investment will be absolutely crucial to address unmet need and help transform health and social care services to make them fit for the future.”

He said priority areas for investment in Northern Ireland included waiting lists, workforce, social care and technology.

Mr May continued: “The need for health and social care provision in our society will undoubtedly continue to grow, as more people live longer lives.

“In addition, incredible advances in life-saving and life-changing drugs will inevitably come with a price tag.

“But efficiency gains help us do more with what we have.

“And importantly they also strengthen our case for additional funding.

“The more we can demonstrate to an Executive that we are making the best use of existing resources, the better our bids for much-needed further investment will land.”