Major players from across the UK’s health and life sciences sector have responded to the Autumn Budget delivered by Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The Budget is Labour’s first in 14 years and includes key measures aimed at improving UK life sciences competitiveness, including a £520m life sciences innovative manufacturing fund “to drive growth and build resilience for future health emergencies”.
Reeves outlined that the government will protect core research and development (R&D) budgets with a real term increase in funding for the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This will support the NHS and wider healthcare system in “driving a revolution” in research, life sciences, medtech and data, and will strengthen the UK’s clinical trial network, Reeves said.
The commitments also include increases in NHS funding, including £1bn for technology to boost productivity, and £1.5bn for beds and diagnostic and surgical capacity in England.
In his reaction, Ahmed Moussa, general manager (general medicines) at Sanofi UK and Ireland, said: “The Budget announcement marks an important moment for the UK’s life sciences sector. The Chancellor has promised to protect record funding for UK research and development and we heard again about the government’s commitment to drive forward a modern industrial strategy which includes a key focus on our sector. This approach must have due focus on ensuring that UK patients are able to access innovative medicines and are not left behind.
“We’re also pleased to see increased funding to the NHS announced and the Chancellor discuss the much-needed shift from sickness to prevention. Life sciences has a critical role, alongside the NHS, to help people to live healthier lives for longer and enable people with ill-health to get back into work.”
In a comment from MHA, an accountancy and advisory firm, Yogan Patel, head of medtech and life sciences, said: “The government has recognised the importance of the life sciences sector to economic growth. The changes to the way debt is measured have opened the door to significant additional investment. The allocation of £520m for a life sciences manufacturing fund and £6.1bn for core research funding in biotech and medical science are a promising signal that funding for life sciences R&D cannot be ignored if the economy is to grow.”
Despite some positive responses, not surprisingly, concerns have been raised over the size of the funding commitments, with Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at The King’s Fund, saying: “This Budget has been delivered among a backdrop of dire NHS performance and extremely tight public finances.
“The Chancellor has said that ‘change must be felt’, but the health spending announced… is unlikely to be enough for patients to see a real improvement in the care they receive. The 3.8% real-term uplift over two years to the Department of Health and Social Care budget will help sustain services but is unlikely to drastically improve care over the rest of this year, and certainly not overnight. That’s because the £22bn for two years allocated for day-to-day spending will also need to cover existing commitments for new staff pay deals and rising costs of delivering care.
“The increases to capital investment in NHS buildings and equipment announced… will go some way towards reducing the waiting list in coming years, by increasing the number of hospital beds and surgical hubs in the NHS. However, the existing backlog of NHS maintenance issues with buildings and equipment is a staggering £13.8bn and the extra funding announced… will only be a modest downpayment on what is needed to tackle unsafe and outdated NHS facilities.
“The additional £600m announced for social care will be welcomed by the sector but is substantially less than what has been allocated to the NHS. Care providers will also have to shoulder extra employer costs from national insurance changes and minimum wage increases, exacerbating the difficult financial position they are in.
“On the whole, this budget has been a starting point for the investment and reform that is needed to begin to stabilise the trajectory of NHS performance, but it is not enough for the system to deliver the wholesale shift needed for a health and care system fit for the future. To achieve that, more funding will be needed in next year’s comprehensive spending review.”