Regulator steps in as Trust faces £30m loss

A HOSPITAL trust which runs an East Yorkshire hospital has revealed it is facing a £30m deficit as it was placed in financial special measures.

NHS Improvement said Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) was one of three nationally which had failed to keep up with their agreed control totals.

NLAG, which runs hospitals in Goole, Grimsby and Scunthorpe, said its finances had continued to deteriorate over the year and had recently worsened.

The regulator will appoint an “improvement director” to work with the trust.

Its chief executive Jim Mackey said the scheme had already saved the NHS around £100m. He added: “Financial special measures will be an effective way of supporting them to significantly improve.”

The regulator said trusts they had helped previously had benefitted from support, including ensuring money was not being spent on agency staff and locums without proper checks and controls, and also in planning rotas to use permanent staff most effectively.

Trust interim chief executive, Richard Sunley, said they were determined to cut the deficit “while maintaining local services for patients.”

A planned deficit of £12.2m had more than doubled to £30m, a position blamed on increasing numbers using A&E and extra spending on staff and locums to cover vacant medical posts.

This had led to a drop in the number of operations and procedures, affecting the trust’s income.