The Government is providing historic funding for the NHS, and is committed to investing in our health and public services properly. The NHS is being supported to tackle the elective backlog, deliver its Long Term Plan and ensure it has the resources needed to recover from the impact of Covid-19. Despite difficult financial circumstances, NHS investment has increased every year since 2010.
In 2020, during the pandemic, the Government wrote-off over £13 billion worth of hospital debt which was built up during the years when Labour were in power. Milton Keynes University Hospital benefitted significantly, as it had over £130 million worth of debt wiped. This is a Government which has always stuck by the NHS even during the most challenging of times for the economy and the country.
Further, the Chancellor recently made a number of spending commitments at the Autumn Statement, making available £8 billion of funding for the NHS and adult social care in England in 2024-25. As part of this, the Government is investing an additional £3.3 billion in 2023-24 and 2024-25 to support the NHS in England. This will enable rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance. This will happen alongside the introduction of reforms to support the workforce and improve performance across the health system over the longer term.
The Government will also make available up to £4.7 billion in 2024-25 to put the adult social care system in England on a stronger financial footing and improve the quality of and access to care for many of the most vulnerable in our society. In addition, Our Plan for Patients put £500 million specifically into delayed discharge in 2022, with a further £600 million this year, and £1 billion next year. This money will directly support discharges from hospitals into the community to support the NHS.
In January 2023, the Government announced that an additional £200 million will be made available to immediately buy short-term care placements to help discharge more patients who are fit to leave hospital and free up hospital beds for those who need them. A further £50 million of capital funding was announced to upgrade and expand hospitals including new ambulance hubs and facilities for patients about to be discharged. This builds on the £500 million announced for discharge specifically at the Autumn Statement, which is ramping up, and the additional funding for next year.
More locally, I continue to campaign for better healthcare facilities. I was delighted that the new Maple Centre at Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) opened back in October 2022. This facility will provide same-day emergency care for patients without being admitted to hospital. This will relieve pressure on A&E and represents a significant boost for healthcare services in Milton Keynes.
Government investment in Milton Keynes will also see a new breast cancer screening unit and the new mental health centre. Further, I welcome that the Government has decided to fund two new Community Diagnostic Centres in Milton Keynes. This will mean an extra 273,764 tests, scans and checks can be carried out every year in Milton Keynes.
It is clear that we need the NHS more than ever, and I believe the Government has taken the appropriate steps to ensure that the NHS has a healthy and viable future.