Chancellor expected to pump billions into NHS

THE Budget's tax hikes and borrowing increases may not be enough to undo "14 years of damage" to the NHS, Rachel Reeves warned.

The Chancellor is expected to pump billions of pounds into the health service, including £1.5bn for new surgical hubs and scanners and £70m for radiotherapy machines.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said "it will take time to turn the situation around" but the injection of funding would help meet Labour's pledge to deliver two million extra NHS appointments a year.

An additional £1.8bn has been allocated for elective appointments since July and the Treasury indicated "billions of pounds" would be invested in technology to help boost productivity across the health service.