Health bosses warned more patients will be treated in corridors this winter as Jeremy Hunt failed to announce extra money for the NHS.
The Chancellor refused to spell out where the axe will fall as it was revealed Government departments face a massive £19billion hit due to inflation.
Economists said the tax cuts promised in the Autumn Statement could only be afforded if the public sector is hit by brutal cuts in the next few years. Torsten Bell, Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The giveaways announced are funded by handing whoever wins the next election implausibly large spending cuts.”
Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “Spending on NHS is growing, but considerably less quickly than planned a couple of years ago. Budgets have not been increased to account for higher inflation.” He said there was a major risk the “plans prove undeliverable”.
Royal College of Nursing Chief Nurse Professor Nicola Ranger said the Chancellor's statement was "short-sighted”. She added: "The NHS is no longer a priority for the Government. The public sector cuts the Chancellor wants instead will mean even longer waits, more patients treated in corridors and perilous staffing levels here to stay.”
Dr Ian Higginson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said it was a “serious missed opportunity”. “We do not have enough beds in our hospitals,” he added. “We are really worried that we are in for yet more of the heartbreaking scenes of vulnerable patients being forced to wait for hours on trolleys in overflowing A&Es, and queues of ambulances backed up in hospital car parks.”
The NHS waiting list stands at a record high of 7.77million, according to the latest figures.
Among those ignored in yesterday’s speech were millions of households facing a winter energy crisis. Regulator Ofgem is on Thursday expected to announce its price cap for 29 million customers will rise in January by around 5%, to about £1,930 a year on average. New research by fuel poverty charity National Energy Action found one in four adults – 11 million - struggled to afford to pay their energy bills over the past three months. The Tories scrapped universal help with energy bills in place last winter.
Adam Scorer, chief executive of National Energy Action, said: “The gaps in this Autumn Statement are devastating, especially for the poorest households.” Campaigners also slammed the Chancellor for not delivering on last year’s Autumn Statement pledge to consult on a social tariff for poor and vulnerable households.