13.04.16
NHS Improvement to investigate finances at Royal Surrey FT
NHS Improvement will investigate a deterioration of finances in the March 2015-16 financial year at Royal Surrey County Hospital Foundation Trust and provide the trust with financial support.
The new regulator may take further action at the end of the investigation into the financial issues, which have led to a pause in a proposed merger between Royal Surrey and Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals FT.
Peter Dunt, the current chief executive, said that the financial problems were due partly to one-off costs such as a £3.5m increase to its NHS Litigation Authority Insurance Premium following a change in the way it was calculated, and that trusts nationally are facing problems including an increased demand on services, a shortage of staff and reliance on expensive agency staff.
“This is a good hospital, proud of the excellent care and outcomes it achieves and we are working hard to turn around our current financial position and waiting times without compromising patient care,” he said.
“We welcome the support and expertise that NHS Improvement can provide and look forward to working even more closely with them over the coming months.”
Royal Surrey has appointed a turnaround director, Steve Leivers, to help implement steps to return it to financial surplus.
Claudia Griffith, regional director at NHS Improvement, said: “We know Royal Surrey County Hospital is taking steps to get its finances back on track, but we want to find out more about why it is losing money and how we can help fix it.”
NHS Improvement will also examine what support it can offer to reduce patient waiting times for A&E and cancer treatment, and help find a permanent chief executive for the trust, which has had an interim CEO since October.
Since it was formed on 1 April, NHS Improvement has put a condition on Southern Health’s licence meaning it reserves the right to make management changes if the trust fails to address safety concerns, and proposed a move to patient-level costing.
Suzie Bailey from NHS Improvement wrote for the most recent edition of NHE about the new regulator’s role.
(Image c. Royal Surrey County Hospital)