New figures obtained from the Department of Health (DH) by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) reveal that the proportion of NHS funding spent on hospital care increased in the tax year 2012-13, while GPs’ share was slightly reduced.

Spending on GP services over the period was £7.8bn, a 1 per cent increase on the previous year, however, overall spending on healthcare by primary care trusts (PCTs) increased by 2.7 per cent to £91.7bn, which means that the proportion of total healthcare spending going to general practice actually reduced from 8.7 per cent to 8.6 per cent.

The largest proportionate increase was in community services, which grew by 6.9 per cent to £9.7bn, while the amount spent on hospital care increased by only 3.7 per cent to £46.8bn, although the proportion of total healthcare spending in this area increased from 50.6 per cent to 51 per cent.

Meanwhile the biggest drop in funding appears to be on prescribing drugs. Spending in this category fell by £353.8m, or 4.3 per cent, to £7.9bn. The spend on mental health and learning disabilities rose last year from the year before, from £10bn to £10.2bn, although this decreased as a proportion of total health spend from 11.2 per cent to 11.1 per cent.

The changes in 2012-13 generally continue trends seen in recent years. They suggest that the NHS is continuing to struggle to disinvest in hospitals and move funding to general practice. However, the HSJ admits that there may be some doubt about the accuracy of the figures, as they were reported by PCTs and compiled by the DH, so reporting variations in the various PCTs may account for some errors.