Financial woes hit UK hospitals hard
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A British parliamentary committee has been warned that a third of hospitals across the UK are going into the red amid a crippling financial crisis created by unprecedented cash squeeze, media reports say.
The warning by the Nuffield Trust health think tank cautioned members of parliament (MPs) in a bleak assessment of the National Health Service (NHS)’s financial difficulties, saying one in three hospitals could end up unsustainable with the current system not equipped enough to face the growing problem, British media reported.
The House of Commons health select committee launched the probe into the NHS’s ongoing £20bn savings drive, and it was warned by the think tank that ministers should be prepared to face any possible scenario.
“Many hospitals face severe and potentially unsustainable financial pressures”, the trust told the MPs, adding that its analysis of official data about the NHS’s financial health puts a question mark over its future viability.
According to the trust’s assessment, smaller hospitals which are operating semi-autonomously of NHS and the government’s control face a greater risk because they are not given foundation trust status.
The trust added that those hospitals in “regional clusters of financial stress”, such as outer London and the West Midlands, are also going into the red.
The foundation trust status would not be given to 83 NHS trusts from among 246 trusts which are providing care in England because they are not earning enough, or generating a sufficient surplus from their work, said the Nuffield Trust.
According to Monitor, the NHS’s economic regulator, those trusts include 40 of the 146 foundation trusts and 43 of the 100 trusts which have not achieved that status.
Meanwhile, the NHS would not be able to bail out hospitals in trouble because “hospital trusts could start becoming unsustainable in larger number than the current system is designed to address”, according to the trust.
The main opposition Labour Party used the think tank’s analysis to blame the coalition government for failing to address hospitals’ financial woes.
“Ministers lack a plan to deal with trusts in serious financial difficulties and cannot guarantee that the quality of patient care will not be affected. With hospital trusts facing a financial challenge, the government should be focusing on sorting the situation out,” said Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary.
Anita Charlesworth, the trust’s chief economist, said: “We need to monitor the signs that this challenging situation could lead to an unsustainable financial squeeze on hospital trusts. The weakest hospitals appear to be getting weaker.”
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