A look into the NHS finances

Report covering four years of operations shines a light on financial struggle.

Cuts to local authority spending have started to bite in sexual and reproductive health services, a new King’s Fund report shows, meaning that services are being reduced as demand increases. Between 2013 and 2016, a quarter of local authorities reduced their sexual health spending by 20% or more.

In 2015/16 alone, overall local authority spending fell by 3.5%, as part of the £200m cut to public health budgets. The starkest change involves sexual health services being put to tender, with budgets reduced by up to 40% between contracts.