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The Statement, which provides an update on the Government’s plans for the economy, follows plans announed in June to protect health budgets until 2016.

Funding squeeze

It comes as the NHS contends with the tightest ever squeeze on its funding.

Speaking to a Health Select Committee inquiry on public expenditure on health and social care last month, NHS Confederation chief operating officer, Matt Tee, said: "This feels like we are in a storm, and the storm is only getting worse."

Earlier this year, one in five NHS leaders told the Confederation that current financial pressures are the 'worst they have ever experienced'.

Worsening pressures

Leaders also expect the pressures to worsen over the next few years.

Discussing the Nicholson challenge with the Health Select Committee, Matt Tee said that the NHS "has reached the end of the road on the easier changes  and the easier ways of taking out money, and that we now need to start doing the very difficult stuff."

Dynamic approach to spending

In its written evidence to the inquiry, the Confederation warned that the health service is only just 'making ends meet' each year, and called for a dynamic and imaginative approach to healthcare funding.

It suggested that a ten-year spending settlement could be considered as part of this approach.

The settlement would provide a clearer indication of the funds available to the NHS in the future, allow NHS organisations to plan and think more strategically and require governments to give good reasons for deviating dramatically from projections, the Confederation said.

Finances and quality

NHS leaders are growing increasingly worried that financial pressures will start to impact on the quality of care.

The NHS Confederation has said that if the health service is to improve patient care while meeting unprecedented financial challenges, the NHS will need to change the way care is provided.

Its 2015 Challenge aims to ensure that politicians support the NHS in making the necessary changes to improve services for patients.

New partnership

The organisation has established a new partnership with the Healthcare Financial Management Association, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management to understand the relationship between finance and quality and discover ways the NHS can improve quality while reducing costs.  

Find out more

Find out more about the Autumn Statement on the Treasury's website.

View the results of the 2013 member survey.

Download the written evidence to the Health Select Committee's inquiry on public expenditure on health and social care.

Visit the NHS Employers website for key workforce-related issues.