Multibillion-pound funding commitment pledged for NHS

The government has announced that 91.6 billion pounds will be allocated to supporting primary care trust activities in 2012-13.

Announced this week by health secretary Andrew Lansley, the new fiscal deal represents a 2.8 percent increase in total allocations and a real-terms rise in health spending, with the aim of improving the quality of services to patients.

Of the total, 87.5 billion pounds will go to primary care trusts, including 300 million pounds for the priority area of re-ablement services, doubling the amount received last year.

Meanwhile, 4.1 billion pounds will be invested into dental/eye care and pharmaceutical services, as well as support for joint working between health and social care.

Mr Lansley said: "Despite this extra spending, the NHS must still strive to get the best value out of every penny it spends to meet rising demand and continue to improve results for patients."

Earlier this week, the government offered further support for NHS improvements with the launch of a new Atlas of Variation, which highlights differences in care quality standards across the UK.