What NHS Trust has paid in interest in 5 years
GOVERNMENT health chiefs have defended their loans policy after it was revealed Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has paid £4.1 million in interest on debt over five years.
A Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats found that more than £607m was paid by NHS Trusts to the Department of Health and Social Care between 2013/14 and 2017/18.
Liberal Democrat spokesperson Lisa Smart, for Hazel Grove, said: “While hard working doctors and nurses are being forced to work with insufficient resources, it’s frankly heartless that the Conservatives have starved Stockport NHS Foundation Trust of over £4m.
“If the Conservatives were actually giving our hospitals the funding they need then health trusts wouldn’t be forced to run a deficit in the first place.”
In 2017/18 the figure repaid by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stepping Hill Hospital as well as community health services, was £869,628, just below the highest annual repayment of £871,865 in 2016/17.
The Department of Health and Social Care provides the NHS with funds to meet loan payments in the NHS budget, which they say ensures that providers in financial difficulty have timely access to cash financing to protect the continuity of services for patients.
“Trusts then pay the loans back to the department, in what they describe as ‘a circular transaction with no impact on the overall spending power of the NHS’.
A spokesperson said: “We want patients to receive world class care in a safe environment. NHS Trusts rightly have the responsibility to manage their finances but, where Trusts do struggle financially, we will provide short-term loans to ensure they continue to run vital services and provide outstanding care to patients, with the interest paid going back to the NHS.
“We are also backing the NHS with an extra £33.9 billion a year by 2023/24 in cash to support our Long Term Plan, which aims to ensure no provider is in deficit by 2024.”
The Trust confirmed the figures, but said the issue was ‘a party political matter’.