The COVID-19 pandemic has inceased the cost of running frontline NHS services by £4-5bn a year.

These costs are in addition to other key financial factors, such as the need to fund capital investment and recover care backlogs, and they will be with us for the duration of the three-year period that is expected to be covered by the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).

This joint briefing by NHS Providers and the NHS Confederation, based on survey data from 54% of the provider sector, explains the long-term impact of the pandemic on the NHS’s day-to-day running costs, and calls on the government to ensure these costs are met in full.