#Budget2023: Tax breaks for the rich, nothing for the NHS!

Jeremy Hunt announced the government’s Spring Budget today, but what does it mean for patients and our NHS? Spoiler alert - it's not good news.

Firstly,  there has been no extra funding allocated for healthcare. The NHS is already at breaking point with millions of people on waiting lists, ambulance services overwhelmed, and underpaid and overworked staff who are leaving in their thousands. 

The government's lack of investment in the NHS shows just how little they care about tackling the crisis in our NHS - which is costing the lives of hundreds of patients each week. It's also a total dereliction of duty that the government is proposing zero extra budget for NHS staff pay, and is expecting additional public sector pay rises to come out of departments' existing budgets. This approach will only further undermine our already overstretched NHS. 

Chancellor ​Jeremy Hunt laughably claimed that high inflation is the "root cause" of strikes, conveniently leaving out more than a decade of austerity, cuts and pay freezes inflicted by the Conservatives. The government wants an end to public sector strikes, yet refuses to prioritise funding fair pay rises.

The lack of any mention of social care support in the budget is also a hugely damaging oversight. The NHS cannot increase capacity without sufficient social care support, and the government seems to be totally ignoring this.

On mental health, the government announced £10m - an insultingly low amount - to be awarded to suicide prevention charities, but absolutely nothing for NHS services directly. This is appalling in the face of critical mental health bed shortages and 1.2 million people on mental health support waiting lists.

On top of this, the government announced shocking new cuts to  the medical regulations that keep patients safe. This will result in rapid approval of new medicines but with little oversight - and is all about boosting big pharma profits. It's clear that the government is putting corporate interests over patient safety.

Amidst all this, the government is giving huge tax breaks to big business, as well as letting greedy fossil fuel giants off the hook with windfall tax loopholes. They’ve also proposed pension tax reforms which will only benefit the rich. Meanwhile, our NHS and public services are offered no lifelines. 

With this budget, it is clearer than ever that this government is run by the rich, for the rich. We need to demand better for ourselves, our families, and our communities. It's time to call out the government’s twisted priorities and fight harder than ever for the proper investment that our health service needs.

Join Just Treatment if you want to be part of this fight - and help us hold the government to account by sharing our budget response on Twitter and on Facebook!