NHS £1.7bn surplus spending row

The government has come under fire after figures showed a £1.658bn surplus in the NHS last year. Ministers say the surplus will be used to improve patient care but opposition parties warned NHS services were being "starved of cash".

The BBC seems to have swallowed these figures without question. The fact is that a series of measures has been taken to ensure that the surplus was kept below the government target figure of £1.8 billion and without them the true figure would be closer to £3 billion and be a huge embarrassment to ministers.