31.05.18
Troubled Lancashire trust ends year with £37m deficit
A Lancashire trust has ended the financial year with a deficit of almost £30m greater than anticipated, latest figures have revealed.
Troubled Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS FT had predicted a deficit of £7.8m, but instead this soared to £37.6m at the end of March, according to NHS Improvement’s year-end figures.
Earlier this month, the trust lost four of its senior directors amidst claims that it was dealing with a £42m deficit.
Last year, the CQC told the trust to urgently improve its services after concluding that the quality of care at its hospitals was not up to scratch, with patients waiting too long in A&E.
These latest figures suggest that A&E waiting times remain a problem for the trust, and much of the wider NHS following the most difficult winter in a decade, with 77% of patients seen within four hours.
However, almost 98% of patients referred to cancer services were seen in outpatients within two weeks – well above the target of 93%.
In April, a group of nurses from A&E at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, run by the trust, wrote to the hospital’s bosses expressing concerns over “burnout” of staff due to long shifts and staff shortages.
Top imageL Dave Thompson/PA Archive/PA Images
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