Trying to ward off big deficit

PATIENTS FACE MORE TREATMENT AT HOME AS NHS AREA GOES £112M OVER BUDGET

NORTH West London’s NHS is set to go £112 million over budget this year, more than double the amount that was predicted.

A letter from NHS chiefs, sent internally and to local councillors and MPs, said as a result of the deficit, local hospitals will have to make “efficiencies” by “removing waste”.

Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter fears the changes will see a “rationing” of services. And said GPs will be discouraged from referring patients to hospitals, something the NHS denies.

Explaining the soaring costs, the letter says: “Our operating plan set out that we were heading for a £51 million deficit at year-end, but our month-four position now suggests that we are risk of an additional £61 million overspend.”

It says North West London’s population has grown by 5 per cent since 2015. But demand for acute care –surgery and treatment in hospitals and A&E – rose 18 per cent in that period. And demand for emergency care went up 25 per cent.

The letter was penned by Mark Easton, chief officer of North West London’s Clinical Commissioning Groups, and by Lesley Watts, CEO of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

They list several ideas for how to save money. But the letter warns: “Some of these ideas will be about removing waste and duplication and will not affect patient services. Some ideas, especially those affecting patients, will generate strong views, and we will need to make some difficult choices.”

Seven ways to save money are suggested in the letter, including:

■ More non-emergency surgeries performed within North West London, rather than spending money on sending patients to other specialist centres elsewhere

■ Follow-up appointments and procedures taking place at home, over the phone, or with their local GP

■ Finding cheaper ways to buy “over the counter” medicines

Mr Slaughter, Labour, said: “None of this has been implemented yet but it’s imminent.

“They’re panicking, I think. It’s heavy stuff. It’s talking about rationing patient care, and having much worse outcomes for patients.

“This is a reduction in day-to-day clinical services. It’s unacceptable.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “No matter the financial challenges we face, as a clinically-led NHS body our priority will always be the safety of our patients and the quality of NHS services.”

And the letter includes a suggestion that abandoned plans to close and centralise wards and services at Ealing and Charing Cross hospitals led to money being wasted.

It was revealed last month that £500 million was spent on the Shaping a Healthier Future programme since 2010, including £76 million on contracts with private firms who managed the shake-up of hospital services. The NHS said this expenditure helped “deliver its aim of improving health services”.

The letter says: “Challenging estates issues, lack of capital funding and disagreement over previous proposals have made it difficult to progress long-standing issues.

“Our position has worsened over the last year due primarily to increased demand for unplanned [emergency] care in hospital, a failure to achieve savings plans, and a lower uplift to budgets than the rest of London.”