The spending for the UK’s 25 top-tier hospitals has increased from £4.4 billion to £6.37 billion over the time period from 2016 to 2022, once inflation is taken into account. The number of people employed at these facilities, which provide a complete range of medical services including emergency care, has grown from 53,819 to 69,262. In contrast, the bed occupancy rate has dropped from 94.6% to 92.3%, even though waiting lists are on the up.
Despite measures being taken for increasing costs and the complexity of treatments provided, a recent analysis shows a productivity boost of 3.8% in exchange for a 45% rise in spending and a 29% growth in staff. The report, released by the Health Department yesterday, makes it easy for those who depict the health service as a financial sinkhole, benefiting only the insiders.
The perception is further reinforced by the government’s own acknowledgment of not having a clear reason for the high expenditure and seemingly minimal results. The report suggests that a number of factors and provisos may have contributed to this scenario but gives no definitive conclusion. Pledge to further investigate the matter has been made.
Amongst the factors discussed are crucial spends such as infection control, maintaining safe staffing and providing training, which help improve care but do not necessarily increase the patient treatment capacity. The report also points out that a third of new hires in this timeframe were for administrative roles. Factors like longer hospital stays due to Covid and an ageing populace can also be a contributing factor.
Nonetheless, a worrying aspect is the Department’s lack of understanding of why its considerable investment has seen such low returns. Insights may be provided by a productivity taskforce set up in January. Until then, the funding will continue as required. Although savings of €424 million have been pinpointed, further clarification is necessary to understand why the substantial expenditure has brought about so little improvement.