UK newly-appointed prime minister Boris Johnson unveiled 1.8 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) on Saturday in additional funding for the National Health Service, delivering on a pledge made during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.
The money will be used to add hospital beds, wards and cutting-edge equipment, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
850 million pounds will be used at 20 hospitals nationwide, the statement added.
“We will deliver on the priority of the people of this country – to ensure that the NHS has the funding it needs to continue to be one of the best healthcare services in the world,” Johnson wrote in an opinion piece in the Sunday Times.
According to sources, the prime minister has been clear since day one that the NHS is a top priority. This money will be felt by frontline services, by the doctors and nurses whose hard work is invaluable, and by the patients, they care for.”
Sally Gainsbury, a senior policy analyst at the trust tweeted, “Based on the conservative $160m cost estimate per trust, the total cost for upgrading all NHS services would be around $33bn”.
During his visit to a hospital, Johnson will discuss the funding next week.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, said while writing in the Mail on Sunday that the extra funding will be used for new intensive-care wards, children’s’ units and new mental health facilities along with essential maintenance.
During the 2016 referendum, Johnson’s pro-Brexit campaign emblazoned a slogan on the side of its battle bus that pledged extra cash for the NHS if the country voted to leave the EU.
The NHS announcement is likely to be seen as a further signal that Johnson is preparing for a potential election campaign.
Boris Johnson won the prime ministerial race with a convincing margin with 66 per cent of the total vote share, defeating Jeremy Hunt in the race to replace Theresa May as the Conservative leader.