Wales ‘facing deeper NHS cuts than rest of UK’

NHS services in Wales may be set to see a larger impact from reductions in NHS budget levels than anywhere else in the UK.

John Appleby, chief economist for healthcare thinktank the King's Fund, told bmj.com that NHS funding across the UK will be cut in real terms over the next four years, contrary to government claims.

He stated that Wales is likely to see the most significant shortfalls as a result, with real spending set to be 11 percent lower in the nation in 2014-15, in contrast to the 0.9 percent rate seen in England.

Mr Appleby warned that this discrepancy is a negative trend for the ten million people in the UK that do not use England's healthcare services, while also observing that spending per head in England is lower than the rest of the country.

"On average, over the last seven years, NHS spending per head in Scotland has been around 15 percent higher than in England – equivalent to a financial gap of over 15 billion pounds," he added.

This comes after the thinktank argued earlier this month that the NHS reform programme requires major alterations if it is to be successful.