Health insurer finds NHS deficit

A fresh report by NERA and Frontier, commissioned by BUPA Health Insurance, indicates that financial pressure is mounting on the National Health Service . According to the study, when the current injection of cash into the ailing health service finishes, additional money must be found.

The report goes into specifics, indicating a £11 billion shortfall as soon as 2015. The impact of this for the average citizen could mean even longer waiting lists for treatments, further cuts in staff, and even further declines in employee morale.

The NHS has been being bankrolled for some time, and the government are currently racking their brains for how to resolve the situation. Proposed solutions include increasing public funding through tax increases, or redistributing public money. Increasing NHS productivity, raising additional income, reducing services, introducing co-payments and generating new funding streams have also been proposed.

The MD of BUPA insurance, Fergus Kee, said: The NHS in England is going through a transformation. The last few years have rightly seen large increases in money going into the health system but recent improvements in patient care may not be sustainable in the long-term unless urgent action is taken to relieve future financial pressures.