NHS short of over £1bn for second Covid wave and onset of winter (England)

[Northerner]

The NHS has been given in excess of £1bn less than it needs to tackle the second wave of Covid-19, deal with the coming winter and restart routine operations, the Guardian has learned.

The disclosure raises questions about the pledge from the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, at the start of the pandemic to give the NHS “whatever resources it needs” to cope with the pandemic.

Hospitals across England face holes in their budget for the rest of the year of up to £20m, which they say is hampering their efforts to prepare properly for the service’s annual winter crisis and get back to pre-pandemic levels of surgery.

The situation has led to tension between hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on the one hand and NHS England on the other over the sums the latter has awarded them to cover their costs for the rest of the financial year.

The NHS in London faces a gap of up to £200m between the amount trusts and CCGs say they need to deal with the next few months, senior sources in the capital’s health service say. The NHS in Greater Manchester also faces what officials call “a significant gap”.

NHS short of over £1bn for Covid second wave and onset of winter

Exclusive: Hospitals in England each have up to £20m less than they need to cope in coming months

www.theguardian.com

 

[grovesy]

They will have to start paying vat on PPE again aswell!

 

[Northerner]

They will have to start paying vat on PPE again aswell!

Yes, I heard that! Ridiculous! 😱

 

[grovesy]

Yes, I heard that! Ridiculous! 😱

I was suprised that VAT even applied to PPE!

 

[Docb]

The really daft thing is that the government gives them money to pay for the PPE and then takes 20% back as VAT. Keeps the admin men in a job I suppose.

 

[grovesy]

The really daft thing is that the government gives them money to pay for the PPE and then takes 20% back as VAT. Keeps the admin men in a job I suppose.

Now though many businesses who never previously used PPE are now having to purchase! I was having this the conversation with my Sports Massage Therapist this morning. She works on some days at a Chiropractor Surgery, and other days form her own rooms.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Now though many businesses who never previously used PPE are now having to purchase!

Such businesses can presumably claim the VAT back, though?

(It's apparently every Conservative politician's dream: increase red tape for businesses.)

 

[Docb]

Now though many businesses who never previously used PPE are now having to purchase! I was having this the conversation with my Sports Massage Therapist this morning. She works on some days at a Chiropractor Surgery, and other days form her own rooms.

I was referring specifically to the NHS who in the main do not have income streams for which they can charge VAT. The simple route is that gov gives NHS money for PPE with 20% on top for VAT, NHS buys it, paying VAT to the supplier, and the supply chain pays the 20% VAT back to government in dribs and drabs. That's the theory although a lot of this stuff is purchased abroad so who gets what VAT depends on how sneaky the supply chain is.

More likely scenario is: Gov gives NHS money for PPE with 20% on the top to cover VAT. NHS pays supplier including the VAT. Some of that eventually gets back to GOV, the actual amount depending on who is diddling and where. It's a complete maze that keeps a lot of admin men in work.

 

[mikeyB]

It’s not really a maze. There are a swathe of VAT exemptions, a tick box. That’s what happens when we buy our Libre sensors, or when I buy a wheelchair, or get a company to fit disability adaptations to the bathroom. The default in NHS purchases of equipment is VAT exemption.

In the big picture, you might get around to being appalled that women pay VAT on sanitary products, even though it is now only 5%. The one benefit of Brexit is that that tax will be removed.

 

[Docb]

Have you ever done a VAT return or had a VAT inspection, @mikeyB? What the consumer sees it a tiny tip of a very big iceberg.

When I ran my shop I decided early on to figure out how to run a viable retail business trading at a sub vat threshold income. I succeeded and saved the one hell of a lot of admin and pratting about, believe me.

 

[trophywench]

Both my successive husbands were self employed running VAT registered businesses. Muggins was No 1's book keeper and VAT's NP as long as 'the business' keeps all the receipts. Mk2 did it all himself and once he could do the Income Tax return online, no need to pay an accountant.