Ahead of the Autumn Budget on 30 October, NHS Providers has submitted our representation to the Treasury setting out the details of our immediate and long-term asks to the government. Our representation was submitted to the Treasury ahead of the deadline.

The key messages from our submission are as follows:

• Trust leaders would value government focus on returning the NHS to financial stability over the long term, and ensuring a path is set for this in the Department for Health and Social Care’s resource departmental expenditure limit (RDEL) for 2025/26.
• Increasing capital investment in the NHS is essential to securing a high quality, productive service now and for the future. Trust leaders would welcome discussion with government about removing current barriers to capital spending due to the national capital departmental expenditure limit (CDEL) and exploring alternative routes to capital investment for the longer term.
• Government must ensure the New Hospital Programme (NHP) is fully funded and every scheme is delivered to a realistic timeframe.
• Government must commit to delivering and fully funding the long term workforce plan (LTWP) and prioritise action to improve retention – through raising staff morale, reducing burnout and ensuring staff are adequately supported in their roles.
• Trust leaders would welcome a cross-departmental approach to health and wellbeing. This should involve specifically targeted improvements to the health of the population, especially in the most deprived areas, in order to address health inequalities.
• Government should expand capacity across primary and community care, with the necessary investment and prioritisation attached to deliver the transformation required and introduce longer-term funding cycles to ensure resources are invested in the most effective and efficient way possible.
• Government must prioritise mental health services in forthcoming NHS funding decisions to ensure mental health trusts can meet rising demand through new and future models of care, and in recognition of the economic benefit derived from investing in the delivery of high quality, accessible mental health services.
•  In order to see sustained performance improvement across the urgent and emergency care pathway, government needs to ensure ambulance services are provided with sufficient resources to manage the growth in demand levels.
• Trust leaders want to see the government deliver a long-term, multi-year settlement to place social care on a sustainable footing.