‘Record’ NHS investment unveiled in government spending review

The chancellor has committed a £29bn annual funding boost for the NHS up until 2028/29, as part of the government’s latest spending review.

Rachel Reeves said the investment would see real terms day-to-day spending rise by 3% a year.

The government has confirmed that up to £10bn of this investment will be used on technology and digital transformation within the health service.

In addition, it has also committed for ‘thousands more GPs to be trained’ and for mental health support to be rolled out to ‘all schools’.

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It comes as part of the ‘largest ever’ NHS health capital budget, equating to an over 20% real terms rise by the end of the spending review period in 2028/29.

In her speech this afternoon, Ms Reeves said she was ‘hugely grateful to our nurses, our doctors, our paramedics and other healthcare professionals for everything that they do’.

‘If we want a strong economy where working people can fulfil their potential, then we must have a strong NHS,’ she added.

Responding to the review, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said the NHS was ‘protected but not transformed’ by the plans.

‘The chancellor acknowledged the contribution of nursing staff, but the reality is patient demand is rising and the nurse workforce crisis is deepening,’ she said.

‘Ambition and the funding to match is required from government if its flagship reforms are to be successful.’

Professor Ranger added that Labour’s key goal of shifting care from hospitals to the community will require ‘significant investment’ to stabilise nursing and grow roles.

‘When the government lays out its vision for the future of the NHS and its workforce, it must say how it intends to reverse collapsing student recruitment, boost retention and deliver urgent, structural reform to nursing pay,’ she said.

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The 2025 spending review also includes a £2.3bn real terms increase in the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) annual capital budget from 2023-25 to 2029-30.

This money will be used to invest in primary care, new technology and hospitals, according to the spending review document published this afternoon.

Chief executive of the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing (QICN), Dr Crystal Oldman, welcomed the additional funding for NHS care and estates.

She described how investment into GP practices, hospitals, equipment and technology will make care ‘safer’ for patients and improve access to NHS services.

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Dr Oldman warned that without more funding for social care, the NHS will remain ‘on the backfoot’ with long waiting lists and preventable hospital admissions.

‘An investment in nurse-led services in the community, such as district nursing, is urgently needed as part of the spend – and then many of the challenges in the hospital and in primary care will be quickly resolved,’ she said.

Earlier this week, the RCN launched a consultation of 345,000 NHS nursing staff on whether they believe the 2025/26 pay award ‘is enough’.