City patients could pay for NHS debt of neighbours
MPs’ dire warning over merger of clinical commissioning groups
POORER Birmingham patients could end up paying for the NHS overspend of wealthier neighbours in Solihull, two MPs have warned.
Birmingham MPs have demanded reassurances from the Government about plans to merge two Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) with that of Solihull.
The CCGs buy services on behalf of patients from NHS services such as hospitals.
But Solihull CCG went £16 million over budget last year – and is now believed to be on course to go up to £6 million over budget this year.
MP Steve McCabe (Lab, Selly Oak) said: “We simply can’t afford to transfer any of our health funds to another area.”
The new larger Birmingham and Solihull body would serve more than 1.5 million people.
PLANS to merge health authorities could lead to cuts in services for Birmingham patients to pay off debts in Solihull, MPs claim.
Birmingham MPs have asked the Government for reassurances about plans to merge two Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Groups, the bodies which fund NHS services, with the Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The Solihull CCG ended the last financial year £16 million over budget, and is believed to be on course to go up to £6 million over budget this year.
But MPs say that merging the bodies could mean health funding gets transferred from Birmingham to Solihull in an attempt to balance the books – and this would have “a devastating impact on the provision of health resources in Birmingham”.
MP Steve McCabe (Lab Selly Oak) said: “We simply can’t afford to transfer any of our health funds to another area.”
The warning came in a joint statement from Mr McCabe and MP Jack Dromey (Lab Erdington).
The MPs said Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Chancellor Philip Hammond must provide “cast iron guarantees” that the merger would not lead to cuts in health funding for Birmingham.
Mr Dromey said: “We are not going to accept a situation where the deficit is tackled for one year and the people of some of the poorest parts of Erdington end up picking up the bill for the health of rather wealthier Solihull residents in subsequent years. “That would be plain unfair. I support the principle of the merger but I’ll need some solid guarantees from NHS England and the Secretary of State before this plan gets my blessing.” Mr McCabe said: “I have always thought we were wasting money with too many commissioning groups but we wouldn’t be doing our job if we let this proceed without knowing all the figures.”
The Chancellor had promised to make money available for health services to help them make changes, set out in plans called Sustainable Transformation Plans, said Mr McCabe.
“If he’ll guarantee us some of that cash, we’ll work with others to make this succeed – but only if he guarantees that people in Birmingham don’t lose out. We simply can’t afford to transfer any of our health funds to another area.”
Paying off a deficit of £5 to £6 million would be the equivalent of the cost of 5,000-6,000 emergency admissions, they said.
We’re not going to accept a situation where the people of some of the poorest parts end up picking up the bill for the health of wealthier Solihull Labour MP Jack Dromey