Theresa May vows £8bn NHS cash injection for ‘ambitious’ building and tech programme
Conservative manifesto includes plans to hike funding per person, recruit 10,000 more mental health professionals and upgrade hospitals and computer systems
THE NHS got a triple-pronged £8billion shot in the arm yesterday under fresh Tory spending promises.
Theresa May pledged to inject a minimum of £8bn in real terms over the next five years.
If re-elected the Conservatives promised to hike NHS funding per head of population in every year of the next Parliament so that as the population rises, so will the Government's contribution.
A commitment to recruit up to 10,000 more mental health professionals by 2020 was also underlined.
The party vowed to embark on "the most ambitious programme of investment in buildings and technology the NHS has ever seen".
The manifesto revealed plans to upgrade the country's crumbling hospitals and upgrade the NHS's computer system to stop hackers breaking in.
Admitting the NHS “has been forced to use too many inadequate and antiquated facilities”, the party said it would build and upgrade primary care facilities, mental health clinics and hospitals across England, to enable more care to be delivered closer to home.
But Labour blasted the Tories — for not revealing how they'd fund the spending spree.
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Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell hit out, saying: “The Tories’ numbers don’t add up.
"They have published an 84-page blank cheque that provides a tax giveaway guarantee for big business, while offering a roll of the dice for working families with no commitments to rule out rises in income tax and National Insurance."
And BMA boss Mark Porter branded the extra £8billion "smoke and mirrors".
He said it was a simple extension of money that has already been promised.
He said: "The Conservatives have been in power for the last seven years, yet this manifesto will do nothing to reassure patients and NHS staff that they have the vision the NHS needs or will deliver the funding to ensure its survival.
"Addressing the crisis in our health service must be a priority for the next government, but based on these proposals it looks as though the NHS is facing more of the same.";
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