Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March to Question 146546, whether the NHS has met its most recent efficiency target; and what steps he plans to take in the event that the new efficiency target is not achieved.

The NHS Long Term Plan states that the National Health Service will achieve productivity growth of at least 1.1% per year. The Office for National Statistics’ most recent assessment of productivity performance indicates that in 2019/20, public service healthcare productivity decreased by 1.9%. This period includes March 2020 and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Productivity fell during the pandemic as elective activity reduced to protect the capacity to care for COVID-19 patients. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that the NHS efficiency commitment will double to 2.2% in 2022/23. To achieve additional efficiencies, we will work with the NHS to share and embed best practice and identify new opportunities for efficiency gains, including investment in technology to improve the patient experience. Health and social care spending will also continue to be scrutinised by the National Audit Office, the Health and Social Care Select Committee and Public Accounts Committee to ensure value for money. If efficiency trajectories show that the NHS is not on course to meet the target, the Department will work with the NHS to identify and agree actions to support delivery.