On Wednesday 30th October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP announced the UK Government’s spending plans for the next year and a half. Some of these plans affect people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differently.

We were interested to see if the Prime Minister had listened to the calls in our open letter to him, now signed by over 113,000 people. We’ve been looking into the detail of these plans, from NHS waiting times to employment and research, to understand what they mean for people living with arthritis.

Tackling the NHS backlog

The Chancellor announced an additional £22.6 billion for the NHS with much of it planned to go towards delivering 40,000 extra appointments a week, and £1.5 billion for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners to deliver an additional 30,000 procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests.

This announcement is a huge win for our community who have been campaigning to bring down long waits for planned care including joint replacement surgery – a key call in our open letter.

We look forward to hearing more from the UK Government on how these plans will get waiting times back to the national target, so that nobody has to wait more than 18 weeks for the treatment they need.

We will also call for arthritis to be made a priority in the upcoming NHS Ten Year Plan for England so that it’s placed on equal footing with other major conditions.  

What about employment support?

The Chancellor promised £240 million of funding to help people get back to work and £800 million for disability employment support. For some, this is good news. People with arthritis are 20% less likely to be in work compared to those without arthritis,  so it’s vital that employment support is tailored to people with arthritis’ needs.

Next month, the Department for Work and Pensions will be sharing how they plan on spending this money in their Get Britain Working White Paper. A white paper is a plan that sets out future laws. The department also announced £115 million to deliver new employment support called Connect to Work, matching people with disabilities or health conditions into vacancies and supporting them in their roles.

We look forward to responding to these plans when they are published to make sure they meet the needs of people living with arthritis.

What about funding for research?

The Chancellor promised to protect money for Research and Development (R&D). This is positive for arthritis researchers who had been expecting cuts in funding. However, money for musculoskeletal (MSK) research has dropped since 2018.

This is worrying, as investment in research can pave the way for new and effective treatments. Research isn’t an optional extra – it’s fundamental to help people with arthritis get good care and support and live the lives they choose.

That’s why, in our open letter, we have called on the UK Government to increase MSK research funding by £114 million a year to match its severe impact on people, just like other major conditions.

Is there additional funding for social care?

The Chancellor promised an increase of £86 million to the Disabled Facilities Grant to support more adaptations to help people move around their homes. This is a 16% increase in funding but it's still not enough to meet rising demand for this kind of support. We know that people with arthritis often rely on adaptations to remain in their homes and stay independent, but more funding is needed to make sure everyone who needs this funding can get it.

As a member of the Care and Support Alliance, we will continue to campaign for more social care money now and a long-term funding commitment so that more people with arthritis can lean on social care in the future, too.

What about the devolved governments?

The devolved governments will receive an additional £6.6 billion through something called the Barnett formula. 

This includes £3.4 billion for the Scottish Government, £1.7 billion for the Welsh Government and £1.5 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive. It’s likely that this funding will go towards investment into schools, housing, health and social care, and transport. It will be up to the Scottish, Welsh Governments and Northern Ireland Executive to decide how that money is spent.  

We will continue to campaign in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to make sure this funding works for people with arthritis, with a focus on tackling the backlogs for planned care like joint replacement surgery, and better support for people while they wait.

Versus Arthritis' response to the Autumn Statement in the media  

“We are pleased to see the Government has listened to our calls for greater investment in surgical hubs to help tackle the NHS backlog.

“This announcement, alongside greater funding to deliver the two million extra elective appointments a year, will be vital for the millions of people currently living with arthritis and related musculoskeletal conditions, many of whom are stuck waiting for treatment or diagnosis.

“This year we saw the waiting list for trauma and orthopaedic treatment, including joint replacement surgery, reach a staggering one million for the UK – an all-time high. This announcement can’t come soon enough to those people who have been forced to put their lives on hold, waiting for months or even years in pain for life-changing treatment.

“However, we now remain focused on ensuring arthritis and MSK conditions are included in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan to deliver the fundamental long-term change that’s urgently needed.”

Tracey Loftis, head of Policy and Public Affairs, Versus Arthritis.