Speaking to reporters on Monday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the NHS was “the lifeblood of Britain” and that is why she is “putting an end to the neglect and underinvestment it has seen for over a decade”.
“We will be known as the government that took the NHS from its worst crisis in its history, got it back on its feet again and made it fit for the bright future ahead of it,” she said.
Asked if the Budget would fix the NHS, Ms Reeves said “I don’t think in one Budget you can undo 14 years of damage”.
But she said this Budget will “provide the resource necessary” to deliver the extra 40,000 appointments a week, reduce the backlog and increase the spending on equipment and buildings.
Mr Streeting added: “Our NHS is broken but it’s not beaten and this budget is the moment we start to fix it.”
Alongside the extra funding, he said “crack teams of top surgeons” would be sent to hospitals across the country to help them treat more patients “and make the money go further”.
