NHS budgets ‘can only stretch so far’, warns health chief

NHS chief warns over ‘unacceptable’ rise in lone A&E waits

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Wire)

NHS budgets can only stretch so far as the cost-of-living crisis is expected drive pressure on services, the health service chief has warned.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive for the NHS, said at the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Liverpool “we have absorbed the current inflation spike, but budgets can only ever stretch so far.”

The NHS chief also suggested the cost of living crisis is likely to lead to added pressure on the NHS and criticised the “appalling” treatment of some sickle cell and thalassaemia patients.