Investment 'completely inadequate' to meet NHS needs

  Financial mismanagement by Government is compromising patient care, the BMA has warned, following reports of NHS trusts facing multi-billion pound deficits. Findings from a quarterly review by the King’s Fund, based on 83 NHS trusts in England, reveal that 67 per cent of trusts and 89 per cent of acute hospitals are predicting to be in deficit at the end of 2015/16. The total estimated deficit is £2.3bn. The review also found that around half (53 and 48 per cent respectively) of trust finance directors and CCG (clinical commissioning group) finance leaders felt that care quality in their area had deteriorated during the previous 12 months. BMA council chair Mark Porter (pictured) said the report showed that, by demanding greater efficiencies while cutting resources, the Government was effectively ‘managing the NHS into deficit’. He said: ‘Asking for greater efficiency from the most efficient health service in the developed world, regardless of the mounting deficits that hobble frontline patient care, amounts to politically driven mismanagement.   Inadequte investment Dr Porter added: ‘This comes at a time when the population is growing older with complex health needs. Doctors see this as an increasing and sustained strain on overstretched hospital services. ‘The current promised extra investment from ministers is completely inadequate to meet the problems facing a faltering health service.’ He said: ‘The Gov...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news