Cutbacks loom for county’s health services
NHS chiefs to intervene in deepening cash crisis
This is a major threat to NHS services in North Yorkshire. Coun Jim Clark, chairman of North Yorkshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee.
HEALTH SERVICES in the region face millions of pounds of spending cuts as NHS bosses prepare to intervene over a worsening cash crisis.
A forecast deficit totalling £40m across the four main clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in North Yorkshire in 2017-18 is expected to trigger a decision within weeks by NHS England to put them all in special measures.
Turnaround consultants are likely to be drafted in draw up savings plans for NHS services in the county which have been beset by a series of financial crises for the last 15 years.
Last night there were calls for frontline services to be protected amid concerns over the impact on care of spending cuts.
The financial problems for CCGs are revealed just days after
The Yorkshire Post reported how NHS trusts in Yorkshire and the Humber were currently about £150m in the red, and fears have been raised that their deficit could rise higher by the end of March.
The special measures decision, due to be ratified shortly by NHS leaders, has been prompted by escalating deficits at CCGs in North Yorkshire including Harrogate and district, which is predicting it will be £14.1m in the red, Scarborough and Ryedale, facing a £5.3m deficit, and Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby, which warned earlier this month of “difficult decisions on some services” as it faces a £3.8m deficit.
Vale of York CCG, which is forecasting a £16m deficit, was put in special measures in 2016.
The deficits are on top of serious financial problems affecting other NHS organisations in the county, with hospital trusts running services in Harrogate, York and Scarborough also falling heavily into the red.
The deterioration of finances at Harrogate’s CCG comes just 18 months after NHS England singled it out as one of only 10 nationally to be rated “outstanding”.
Coun Jim Clark, chairman of North Yorkshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee, said he would be calling for an indepth investigation into the rapidly worsening situation.
“This is a major threat to NHS services in North Yorkshire and it’s important that while this fire fighting is going on that frontline services aren’t disrupted,” he said.
He said he had predicted a “bureaucratic nightmare” with the formation of five CCGs covering the county and it was now time for them to be formally merged.
“There needs to be a grip on the situation. We’re more or less back to square one to where we’ve been before – it’s indicative of something not being right,” he said.
In a statement, a regional NHS England spokesman said: “We are working with some CCGs in the region which are not delivering against their local plans as well as expected to support improvement and are considering whether further intervention is needed.” Heavy spending on hospital services is being blamed for the bulk of the deficits, with costs at Harrogate’s CCG on hospital and ambulance care eight per cent higher than expected.
THE NEWS that health services in large parts of North Yorkshire are facing millions of pounds worth of spending cuts in a bid to get them back on an even keel, is as worrying as it is depressing.
It has been revealed that the total deficit for the four main clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in North Yorkshire in 2017-18 is expected to reach £40m and could well lead to them all being placed in special measures by NHS England.
These deficits are on top of serious financial problems affecting other NHS organisations in the county with several hospital trusts also falling heavily into the red. All of which points to a much wider and deeper issue. The fact that health services in the county have been plagued by a number of financial problems during the past 15 years is indicative of a system that simply isn’t fit for purpose.
The National Health Service is arguably this county’s single most cherished – and important – institution, yet in its 70th year it finds itself bedevilled by financial woes. It’s true that the health challenges we face today are very different from those faced by the NHS’s founders, nevertheless it is abundantly clear that the health service has been too slow in the past to respond to the country’s changing demographics, not to mention the increased demands and expectations of patients.
This isn’t just about money – the blank cheque remedy has been proven not to work – at the same time, those tasked with making difficult decisions should be doing so from the perspective of Yorkshire’s health requirements in five, 10 and 20 years hence, rather than constantly having to contend with the latest financial emergency.
For that to happen we need a truly integrated health and social care policy rather than short-sighted strategies that are little more than a sticking plaster on an open wound.