‘Firm should refund £2m to hospital’

POLITICIANS are demanding accountancy giant KPMG returns £2m to Stepping Hill after ‘amateurish’ attempts to cut the beleaguered hospital’s deficit.

Councillor Laura Booth says the firm was paid consultancy fees to reduce the hospital’s deficit to £6m - but currently it is £15.6m in the red.

She says KPMG is being ‘rewarded for failure’ having planned to sell off part of the hospital site, then changing its mind on realising it was worth less than originally thought.

Proposals were also put forward to shed 350 jobs, but only 45 staff have been offered voluntary redundancy.

KPMG has refuted these claims and says it was employed as part of the NHS’s financial improvement plan rather than to specifically reduce its deficit to £6m.

Coun Booth, Stockport Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman, said: “KPMG were paid more than £2m. We now know the extent of their failure. Instead of leaving a £6m deficit, Stepping Hill will be a massive £15.6m in the red.

“It is unacceptable KPMG are being rewarded for failure. The £2m should be handed back to the NHS to be spent on treating patients.

“The approach KPMG has taken has been amateurish at best. We want this wasted money repaid and to know how KPMG came to be making these decisions for our hospital in the first place.”

It was revealed earlier this year Stepping Hill was losing £75 a minute and had a £40m deficit. A ward was shut with further cutbacks planned.

A KPMG spokesman said: “It is incorrect that KPMG was engaged to reduce the financial deficit at Stepping Hill Hospital to £6m.

“KPMG was engaged by the trust to work with the organisation as part of the national financial improvement programme. This sought to identify and support the trust in the delivery of £16.1m savings.

“As recently confirmed by the trust’s directors, KPMG was successful in identifying these cost savings, and in supporting the trust in its delivery.

“It should be noted this work was just one element of a wider improvement programme being undertaken by the trust to tackle its financial and operational challenges.”

A trust spokesman confirmed that KPMG’s statement was correct and that the accountancy firm was one element in its bid for financial improvement.