For a long time the NHS has struggled financially It does not

For a long time, the NHS has struggled financially. It does not receive sufficient funds to be able to meet the demands of its job. At the moment, the NHS England receives 38 billion pounds each year (Harker, 2019), but to be able to thrive, the NHS needs another 50 billion pounds (Pym, 2018). One main, very important reason that the NHS needs more funding is due to the fact that the population is living longer. This means more money is needed as there are going to be more long term illnesses. ‘75% of 75 year olds in the UK have more than one long term condition, rising to 82% of 85 year olds’ (Barnett et al, 2012). With this ageing population, the NHS no longer serves the same population as it was originally designed for (The wilberforce society, 2019). Also, people will be spending more time in hospitals meaning there are less beds available. The BMA (British Medical Association) said that it is older people that are experiencing noticeably long stays (BMA, 2017). The British Medical Journal said that we now have 1.15 million bed days a year officially reported as caused by DTOC (delayed transfers of care) in English hospitals—85% concerning patients over 65 (BMJ, 2019). We also need more staff to look after these people, which is already a huge issue in the NHS – 1 in 12 posts are vacant in hospital and community services (The Nuffield Trust, 2019), and 80% of nurse vacancies are filled by temporary staff (The Nuffield Trust, 2019). This issue is putting a strain on the NHS economically as it is having to stretch its funds to lots of different areas of the NHS and therefore this growing issue of people living longer is not getting enough resources. More money from the government means more resources and staff to be able to cope with this area of the NHS. This problem links to sustainability as economic sustainability refers to long term economic growth practices without negatively impacting social, environmental and cultural aspects of the community, and this issue is having a very negative impact on all aspects of the community (Sustainability, 2019). The aim of my report is to find out whether the fact that people are living longer is putting a strain on the NHS economically.There are 3 more sections to my report, a section for all the references I have used an appendix where you will find extra information such as the questionnaire I conducted, but first the methodology section, where I will be analysing the data I have collected by the use of my questionnaire.