Responding to the announcement from the Department of Health that the Resource and Accounting Budgeting (RAB) rule, a control for NHS finance in England, is to be withdrawn, Mr James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), said:
“The government has taken a big step towards helping trusts in debt to manage their finances by removing the RAB. This artificial accounting measure imperilled many NHS trusts unnecessarily and forced short-term cuts directly impacting on patient care.
“Scrapping the unjust accounting rule is long overdue, but the BMA is pleased that the government has finally listened to the many calls for it to end.”
