Boris Johnson will announce an extra £1.85billion for the NHS tomorrow – just a TENTH of the £18billion he pledged during the Vote Leave campaign.
In 2016 he toured the UK in a red bus with the slogan: “We send the EU £350million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead.”
His first £850million will go on frontline services, including new beds, equipment and building repairs. There will also be makeovers for 20 hospitals.
He will reveal which ones get the boost at 1pm, and say money is available this week.
A No10 source said: “The PM has been clear since day one that the NHS is a top priority. This money will be felt by frontline services, by doctors and nurses whose hard work is invaluable, and by patients they care for.”
Another £1billion will be used to speed up existing hospital building projects. But critics said the money is only enough to clear a maintenance backlog.
Figures revealed by the Daily Mirror yesterday showed £4.29billion earmarked for equipment and repairs was siphoned off for day-to-day costs and staff pay.
One hospital had sewage seeping through a floor in an ultrasound corridor – 76 NHS trusts reported building issues.
Mr Johnson’s NHS spending pledge is further evidence he plans a General Election sooner rather than later.
If upgrading hospitals can reduce the 4.4 million people waiting for ops like a new hip it would be a vote winner.
But the UK is still spending only half the wealth of similar developed countries on health.
And it would need an extra £4billion to bring the UK up to the OECD average.
Our cancer detection rates lag behind other countries.
That’s blamed on too few scanners – less than a third of the number in Germany and Italy – which would take another £1.5billion to remedy.
