ICB primary care funding has increased in real terms by 4.5% to £11.2bn for the 2024/25 financial year, according to analysis by the House of Commons Library.
The analysis looked at NHS England data on ICB primary care allocations and core services – which includes secondary care – between 2023/24 and 2024/25. It did not look at funding for other primary care services such as dental, optometry and pharmacy.
It found that in total, NHS England had distributed £127.2bn to ICBs, of which £107.6bn went to core services, and £11.2bn to primary care.
Primary care allocations were around £180 per patient across England, which is a 4.3% real terms annual increase since 2023/24, it found. Core services allocations however were around £1,732 per patient, which was a 5% real terms annual increase over the same period.
It highlighted that the highest primary care funding per patient was in Norfolk and Waveney ICB, which had £199 per patient, followed by Lincolnshire (£198) and Herefordshire and Worcestershire (£194).
The lowest funding was given to North West London ICB, with £166 per patient, followed by Hertfordshire and West Essex and Frimley who both received £167.
It comes after ICB leaders delivered a damning verdict on the state of their finances this summer, with 15 out of 19 ICB chief financial officers saying their financial position had deteriorated in 2023/24.
The NAO NHS financial management and sustainability report 2024, which included case studies, interviews, and financial analysis alongside the survey, estimated there was £1.4bn aggregated deficit in 2023/24 across the 42 integrated care systems (ICSs), with three ICBs in NHS England’s Recovery Support Programme alongside 21 trusts.
In September, system leaders called for a new payment system that incentivises prevention and allows for more flexibility in an NHS Confederation report.
Earlier this week, a separate report suggested that targeting more money towards prevention could deliver £11bn annual return on investment, all by redirecting existing money within the system.
