5 Things You Should Know About STP

STP = Sustainability and Transformation Plans. (Remember, remember the golden rule of legislation; always put the difficult/reassuring bit in the title, but don’t let it get into the detail.)

NHS Trusts aren’t overspending.
The NHS isn’t unaffordable.
Hospitals aren’t overstaffed. (I thought this one was painfully obvious.)
STP Isn’t About Centralisation.
STP Is About Creating A Two Tier System.

NHAspace

The Sustainability and Transformation Plans have divided the NHS in England into 44 local areas, and each has been told to cut services as part of a nationwide ‘financial reset’. But what’s actually going on, and how much of the government’s reasoning is just spin?NHAspace brings you a handy myth-busting guide.

1 – NHS Trusts aren’t overspending

The narrative of STPs is that our hospitals are in debt due to overspending. That would be true if the government had matched the NHS budget to the actual healthcare needs of our country, but they haven’t.

The cost of healthcare increases by 4% each year. In the UK, this is referred to as ‘NHS inflation’. If NHS funding doesn’t keep pace with this inflation, then services have to be cut or closed.

David Nicholson and Simon Stevens have both used their time as NHS England CEO to implement austerity measures, leading…

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