Jeremy Hunt 'exaggerated NHS funding claims', researchers say

The Health Secretary says he has given the NHS its sixth biggest funding increase on record, researchers say it is actually the 28th biggest increase

Jeremy Hunt told Parliament is was a "difficult decision" but the NHS needed certainty (PA)

Jeremy Hunt has exaggerated figures about how much funding he has given the NHS, a think tank has claimed

The Health Secretary announced he was giving the NHS “the sixth-biggest increase” in funding in its history. However, researchers at health economy think tank The King’s Fund have said the figure is misleading and exaggerated. Following analysis of funding allocation to the health service over the last 41 years, they have concluded that Mr Hunt has given the 28th biggest funding increase since 1975, rather than the sixth.

Professor John Appleby, King’s Fund’s chief economist, says Mr Hunt’s claims do not take into account inflation over different time periods, meaning he is not comparing like with like. When the figure is considered not as a lump sum, but proportionally, Mr Hunt is said to have given a 1.6 per cent funding increase. He also says Mr Hunt’s claims that he has given an extra £3.8bn funding are misleading and puts the figure at closer to £1.8bn.

The researchers also claim it is not possible to gain accurate measurements further back than 1975 as no relevant data exists prior to this year.

A spokesperson for the Department for Health said: “We are absolutely committed to the NHS which is why we are investing £10bn directly into the service, including almost £4 billion upfront this year – and crucially, that is at a time that other government departments are facing significant reductions in their budgets. As this research shows, there are a number of ways of analysing funding and comparing spending across years – our calculation is based on a commonsense methodology.”

The Health Secretary has also previously been criticised for allegedly distorting figures on weekend hospital deaths to make his case for a seven-day-a-week NHS. He denied that his claims were misleading.