All main political parties’ pledges for NHS will prove inadequate, says former chief executive

The NHS faces a “substantial financial problem” this year that will require significant upfront investment to maintain current services, the former chief executive of the NHS in England has warned.

David Nicholson, who led the service from 2006 to 2014, said that it would be “helpful” for the NHS if Labour joined the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in committing to his successor Simon Stevens’s call for an additional £8bn (€11.1bn; $11.8bn) of funding above inflation by 2020.

But he said that the current pledges from all main political parties would prove inadequate …