30.01.13
No more low-hanging fruit
Sexual health charities are warning today of the consequences of cutting contraceptive services and advice. Brook and the Family Planning Association have highlighted the cost to the NHS if cuts and restriction of services continue, labelling these “short-sighted”.
Still, the NHS is running out of easy pickings when it comes to efficiency savings. Every service will robustly defend its budget and warn against cuts, making it more and more difficult to meet savings targets without significantly damaging vital services
This problem is only going to get worse as the savings challenge steepens and something will have to give. The NHS must start to clearly focus on redesigning services in a different (cheaper) way, or cuts to both budgets and quality will be unavoidable.
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