Hospitals now told to sack nurses hired after Mid Staffs

HEALTH EDITOR NHS hospital trusts that took on extra nurses to improve patient safety in the wake of the Mid-Staffs scandal have been told to reduce staff numbers.

Patients groups have reacted with fury after NHS Improvement singled out 63 trusts whose pay bill has grown by more than inflation, with £356million in “excess” spending identified.

The watchdog has told trusts to come up with plans to make savings by tomorrow, after warning them last week. The plan comes after a record deficit of £2.4 billion was recorded by hospitals. NHS managers told

that the request was “totally flawed” and took little account of basic facts, such as how short-staffed hospitals had been. The regulator said it had not issued orders, and trusts which could justify their spending would not be expected to cut their bills.

Those accused of spending too much on staff include University Hospitals of Leicester trust, Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation trust, Barts Health trust, Imperial College Healthcare trust and Tameside Hospital Foundation trust. Several trust chief executives said the regulator had ignored the fact they had taken over new services or were responding to increased demand.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, called for the plan to be urgently reviewed. She said: “It is ludicrous to punish trusts for increasing their nursing workforce.

“Ensuring safe staffing levels saves lives, improves the patient experience, and increases efficiency.”

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said more staff cuts would risk patient safety.

Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS Improvement, said the regulator had no intention of forcing trusts to cut staff levels. He said: “This exercise – which has been conducted in an open and transparent way – helps trusts compare the amount they are spending on staff with other NHS providers in order to ensure any increases are properly planned and proportionate.

“We will work with providers and the Care Quality Commission to identify where savings can be made without compromising patient safety.”

The plans come as NHS England authorised Kernow clinical commissioning group to spend £396,000 on hiring troubleshooter Keith Pringle as an interim turnaround director,

reported. Kernow said it was required to have a turnaround director under legal directions to put it on a “firmer financial footing” and that the costs included VAT and recruitment agency fees.