ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses national and local NHS funding structures. There are two major differences in this latest edition. First, it has expanded, as funding is now more complex; second, some of the figures given below cannot be guaranteed because not only do different authorities sometimes give different figures but you occasionally find contradictory figures quoted on official DoH websites. Early funding policies of the NHS were concerned with cost control but lacked processes to achieve equity and efficiency in funding. The result was an NHS internal market that promised efficiency by introducing a purchaser–provider split and a system of provider competition in which money would follow the patient. The NHS is the second largest government spending programme. The DoH allocates resources to: revenue allocations and capital allocations. The basis for distributing the total NHS funds varies between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
