The NHS: Where does all the money go?

Primary Care and General Practice

In the 2022/23 financial year, the NHS allocated £17.2 billion, 9.5% of its budget, to primary care services in England. This funding encompasses general practitioner (GP), dental, pharmaceutical, and eye care services but does not include the costs associated with prescriptions (which will be discussed in a separate post).

Although primary care funding has increased, its share of the total NHS budget has decreased by more than two percentage points compared to the 2015/16 financial year.

Due to COVID-19, payments to general practitioners increased significantly, mainly because of the heightened funding for the vaccine program, which escalated from £334 million in 2020/21 to £727 million in 2021/22.

General practices are small, independent businesses that contract with the NHS to provide services. The NHS reimburses these practices for the services they deliver based on their size and the demographics of their patient lists. Practices with more older patients and those with higher needs …