A reported extra £30bn for healthcare in this week's Spending Review may not be enough, according to NHS Confed chief executive Matthew Taylor.

Taylor said that, while welcome, the 2.8% annual rise in three-year spending may not be enough due to high costs and uncertainty over future pay deals.

‘In this challenging economic context, health leaders will welcome the prospect of a 2.8% boost,' said Taylor. ‘There will be concern, though, in an age of expensive new treatments and medicines and other high costs, that it may prove not to be enough, especially when staff pay accounts for around 40% of the budget and future pay deals are not yet known.'

Taylor said funding settlement which was below the long-term historical average, which was 3.7% between 1979/80 and 2019/20, would make improving productivity while delivering historically high costs savings more challenging.

The NHS Confed boss also called for additional capital investment, ‘either traditional or through the private sector' to ensure recovery and reform was possible.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, meanwhile, called on the chancellor to rule out further cuts to social care warning consequences could be ‘catastrophic'.

A Government spokesperson said: ‘The NHS estate we inherited is crumbling, following years of neglect. Repairing and rebuilding our hospitals is a key part of our ambition to create a health service fit for the future – which is why we are increasing capital spending by £1.8bn to £13.6bn in 2025-26.

‘As we look to reform our NHS, shift care out of hospitals and into the community, and modernise technology, how we run our health service will change. We will continue to work with and trust frontline leaders to take decisions that will deliver the best healthcare for their communities for the future.'