Has the budget squeeze in the NHS had an effect on NHS performance, beyond waiting times? In particular, has it reduced the quality of care? The King’s Fund has tried to answer this question with its report ‘Understanding NHS financial pressures’, published on March 14th. The study focused on hip replacement, neonatal care, district nursing and genito-urinary medicine. It concluded that acute services – hip replacement and neonatal care –have been relatively protected so far, whilst community-based services have experienced static or falling budgets, with probably knock-on negative effects on patient care. The number of hip replacements is rising (although […]
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