26.06.12
Trust losing £1m a week to go into administration
The South London Healthcare Trust is to be placed into special measures and run by an appointed administrator, after health secretary Andrew Lansley told it that he “cannot permit” it to suck up “significant financial resources from other parts of the NHS”.
The trust controls three hospitals – Queen Mary’s, Queen Elizabeth andPrincessRoyalUniversity– and is losing £1m a week. Over the past three years the trust has accumulated deficits of over £150m, and even with a new business plan it is expected to be left with a deficit of between £30m and £75m in five years.
Two previously signed private finance deals have not helped the financial situation, Lansley has said, and the trust is expected to be placed into the ‘unsustainable providers regime’, introduced by the last Labour government but never used.
A special administrator will take over the board and recommend measures to the health secretary to put the trust’s finances back into order.
In a letter to the trust, Lansley wrote: “I have sought to provide NHS organisations with the help and support they need to provide these high quality, sustainable services to their patients, which South London Healthcare NHS Trust stands to benefit from. However, even after this support has been provided, your organisation still expects to be in need of significant financial resources from other parts of the NHS and I cannot permit this to continue.”
The trust said: “We have entered into discussions with the Department of Health and NHS London on the best future for the trust and our priority, and that of others involved, is to make sure that our longstanding and well-known financial issues are resolved.
“Our staff have worked hard for patients and, in spite of significant financial issues, we are extremely proud that we now have among the lowest mortality and infection rates in the country.
“We expect these discussions to come to a conclusion in the second week in July when a decision will be taken by the secretary of state. In the meantime we can reassure local patients and the public that our staff will continue to provide services as normal.”
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