NHS: More Cuts and Less Care

By Sylvie Rouhani, Deputy Editor, Taxpayers Against Poverty – June 2026

After years of pressure to deliver, with much lower funding than ever before, increasing saving demands and more cuts on the horizon, the NHS is facing its biggest challenges yet which, in turn, as a negative impact on UK citizens.

Decades of underfunding and ambitious saving targets over care

Before Covid 19 and its subsequent challenges, the NHS was already under pressure as a result of the financial crash of 2009 and decisions made by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition of 2010. The government introduced tight restrictions in public services, in the name of “austerity”, including the NHS and launched an overall reorganisation of its services.

In 2015, the Conservative government continued to tighten control over public spending, resulting in lower quality of life and the deterioration in physical and mental health in the UK population. The NHS saw a high increase in demands that couldn’t be met. By 2019, it had experienced real-terms cuts in spending of 20%.

The Covid 19 pandemic, in 2020, exposed the impact of insufficient funding and of the ambitious targets for efficiency saving, creating many challenges and blocks to care, such as: lack of readiness, and lack of organisation at the beginning of the pandemic. There were shortages in ventilation, PPE and other necessary equipment.  It resulted in increased waiting lists for treatments and overcrowded A&E. Community care centres and services greatly struggled, adversely affecting patients and the management of their care.

The current cost of living crisis, pushing UK citizen into severe poverty, and ill health, added to the pressure to meet saving targets, cuts in funding, lack of staff and privatisation have only aggravated the problems further, and patients are suffering from lack of accessibility and lack of quality in their treatments. Low life expectancy is at its highest. So are the numbers of loss of life.

The NHS is facing its biggest challenges yet, in 2026

In 2025/26, the NHS is facing more cuts and reductions in services, GPs, Trust and ICB (NHS Integrated Care Board), responding to the latest NHS Alliance “Targets and trade-off “survey, claim there are likely to be more services cuts or reduced: from 35 % in 2025/26 to 64% in 2026/27. We can also expect an increase in redesigned services, from 61 per cent this year, to 87 per cent forecasted for next year.

“Reducing, closing or redesigning services would have a major impact on patients and communities at a time when the NHS is currently experiencing record levels of demands. More than six in ten (64 per cent) trust and ICB respondents* and 74 per cent of GP respondents* are concerned about patient experience for 2026/27.”

Sophia’s experience.

Sophia* was born in South East London and still lives there now. Throughout the years, she has experienced the decline in care, compassion and accessible NHS services. She suffers with multiple chronic physical and mental illnesses and need a lot of medical care: OCD, Bulimia, Borderline Personality Disorder and Fibromyalgia.

“I remember when my GP was someone who knew my family. They would come for home visits, when necessary, and knew our medical history. There was more preventive care. If we had a problem we could call and talk to someone who knew you. Both in term of my mental and physical care, I trusted my doctors, felt supported and heard.

For the last the decade, it is increasingly difficult to get through someone on the phone, and it is even harder to see a GP, who is now a different person, at each appointment. Most don’t read my medical history prior to seeing me. This creates a lot of delays and confusion about my care. I have yet to get a medication review, some I am no longer supposed to take anymore. There isn’t any communication between GPs and adults mental health services. It makes it easy to be forgotten. There are always mix-ups with my medication and delays in prescriptions, causing me a lot of pain.

Since the COVID 19 epidemic, phone appointments are taking over proper face-to -face care, which is frustrating and time wating. It also means I have to repeat myself a lot, to different individuals. This is very triggering for me.

I no longer trust medical staff. There is a growing lack in compassion and care. I now dread each appointment.”

One solution: Tax extreme wealth

Taxpayers Against Poverty, in the Nicolson Report, recommends taxing extreme wealth and unearned income. “(For example), an annual levy on net wealth above £10 million would affect only the very richest but could raise substantial revenue. Analysis indicates that a small tax on fortunes over £10m could raise in the order of £20–25 billion a year. This would generate funds to be redirected into society, and our communities, including creating better and accessible health care for all.”  

The mark of a compassionate society is to provide mental and physical health care for all, specifically for those who are most vulnerable.

*Name changed for anonymity

*

 For media enquiries, interviews, or comment: Tom Burgess, CEO, TAP / 0044 07887 724285 Email: taxpayersagainstpoverty@gmail.com 

Simon Thomson, Director of Communications and Campaigns, TAP / 0044 7941 679353

Email: simon@taxpayersagainstpoverty.org 

Website: www.taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk 

About Taxpayers Against Poverty Taxpayers against Poverty is a UK-based independent advocacy group dedicated to tackling poverty, inequality, and economic injustice TAP seeks to influence national and local policy by promoting practical economic proposals that have a positive effect on reducing poverty and unnecessary financial hardship using a direct approach to decision makers and other influencers.

TAP was founded by the late Rev Paul Nicolson and is led by Tom Burgess, author of From Here to Prosperity, a new political agenda for a sustainable economy and greater social justice, which proposes taxing wealth more and income less. TAP’s sister organisation is Compassion in Politics which seeks to bring more honesty, respect and compassion into political life.

Sylvie Rouhani, Deputy Editor, Taxpayers Against Poverty – June 2026