19.08.15
Cheshire hospital may have ‘breached licence’ with £15m deficit
Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHHNHS) has been told to take action over its finances, after an investigation by Monitor.
The regulator says there are grounds to suspect the trust ‘breached its licence’ after recording a £5.9m deficit in 2014-15, which was higher than expected. It also forecast a deficit of £15m by March 2016.
However, it is not the first FT to be told to clean up its act. Only last week, Monitor also issued a similar warning to City Hospitals Sunderland NHS FT, which had forecast a £17.8m deficit.
Monitor also examined Warrington & Halton’s A&E performance, but this part of the investigation has been closed without further formal regulatory action following improvements in performance.
WHHNHS has been told to draw up and implement plans to improve its financial position, and must also ensure it has sufficient capacity and capability to deliver these plans.
The trust said it is changing its PAS (patient administration system) to the new Lorenzo system later this year, which should allow more efficient working across wards and departments.
Steve McGuirk, chair at WHHNHS, said: “The issues affecting finance in the NHS are not unique to us in Warrington & Halton. Just yesterday a report showed that over a quarter of the 151 foundation trusts in the country face a form of regulatory action from Monitor so the challenges are well known. However, it is our role to manage the situation locally and to ensure our finances are sustainable in the long term.
“Being in breach of our licence does not affect the day-to-day running of the organisation.”
However, he did add that it will mean the trust will be under much more scrutiny by Monitor to ensure that a number of actions are performed.
“One of these is to draw up a turnaround plan describing in detail how we will meet our cost improvement targets in full over the next two years and reduce the deficit from £15m this year to something lower over the coming years,” said McGuirk.
Paul Chandler, regional director at Monitor, said it is important that improvements are now made and that the trust is able to provide its services on a sustainable basis for patients in the local area.
It was noted that the trust will report to Monitor on its progress and the regulator may take further action if required.