NHS facing ‘increasing’ pressure

The health service is likely to face increasing pressure, according to experts from the NHS Confederation.

David Stout, director of the NHS Confederation's Primary Care Trust Network, said: "Strong financial planning will be more important than ever in the coming years as we face increasing financial pressures across the NHS.

“There is no doubt things are going to get a whole lot tougher. Primary care trusts have been instructed to make reductions in management costs and there is still uncertainty about a range of details included in the Government's consultation on its health reforms."