UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour NHS Deficit at £500m - Just a Few Months Into the New Financial Year.

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour

NHS Deficit at £500m - Just a Few Months Into the New Financial Year.

The BBC has reported that just a few months into the new financial year, the NHS in England is already £500m in the red.  Regulators who had studied the official figures said the sums were greater than had been expected - and warned that NHS bosses would have to "get a grip".

One of the key causes seems to be the rising demand for services and regulators said hospitals in particular were struggling to keep up - with signs emerging that hitting key waiting time targets was getting harder.

The figures were published in board papers released by Monitor and the Trust Development Agency, which oversee foundation trusts and non-foundation trusts respectively.

Both sectors posted deficits - the first time foundation trusts have done so.

The figures from Monitor showed a deficit of £167m had been run up in the first quarter of 2014-15 - above the £80m forecast. A total of 86 out of 147 trusts were in the red. This time last year they posted a £27m surplus.

Adam Brimelow, BBC Health correspondent has analysed the information and says that deficits are not just a problem for the accountants. Ultimately they can have a tangible effect on patients. Financial problems often go hand-in-hand with poor performance on waiting times, or low staffing levels which may - in turn - impact on safety and the quality of care.

The biggest problems were seen in hospital trusts - over two thirds have accrued deficits - and this was also illustrated by the difficulties they were experiencing in meeting their waiting time targets.

The four-hour A&E waiting time target was met in the first quarter, but performance did deteriorate during several weeks despite the period covering spring and summer that are traditionally easier times for hospitals.

Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents trusts, said: "We have been warning for some time that NHS trusts will fall further into deficit as they try to balance rising demand for care against flat funding."

He added that trusts were "working tirelessly" to keep standards up.

Amanda Thomas

UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour

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