NHS was allowed to deteriorate from 2010, claims health service expert

The NHS in England was boosted for the first decade of the 21st century, with investment and helpful reforms, but then allowed to deteriorate between 2010 and 2020, leading to poorer performance and workforce discontent. So says a report from the health think tank the King’s Fund that analysed the period 2000 to 2020. 1

The report on the “rise and decline” of the NHS, written by the charity’s former chief executive Chris Ham, said that multiyear funding increases above the long term average and various reforms led to improvements in NHS performance between 2000 and 2010.

However, performance has been in decline since 2010 because of lower increases in funding, limited funds for capital investment, and neglect …