Health bosses deny small hospitals at risk (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Health bosses deny small hospitals at risk

BOSSES at Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust are struggling to find all the cash savings they need to make but say they have no plans to close community hospitals.

The beleaguered trust has to make savings of £18.5million this year to balance its books.

In July the board agreed a recovery plan to save the money but finance director Nicola Dunn warned that there was a risk of the trust overspending by almost £6million.

And at a board meeting last Thursday Mrs Dunn told the board that she was predicting a potential overspend by the end of March of £5.5million.

Mrs Dunn told the Gazette: "The reason there could be a potential deficit of £5.5million is because a lot of the schemes in the £18.5million we need to save are very ambitious and high risk.

"We always knew some of the schemes were high risk and it's not a case of us 'losing' the money as has been reported elsewhere, we have not lost the money.

"In my report to the board last Thursday I warned them the forecast for this year is a deficit of £5.5million.

"It's a disappointment but we are all working hard to try and bring these savings about."

The trust has to end this financial year in balance otherwise it will lose out on £14million assistance from the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority.

Mrs Dunn said she and her fellow directors were examining in detail where the savings could be made.

At the end of August West Wiltshire Primary Care Trust took the public by surprise when it decided to shut Bradford on Avon hospital and close some services at Westbury Hospital because it had to save money.

Mrs Dunn said: "We haven't got plans to close community hospitals in Kennet and North Wiltshire and we are still working on Pathways for Change (a review of health services in conjunction with stakeholders which will lead to proposals for changes to health services).

"We need to focus on all areas of spending and projected areas of spending and look for efficiencies."

As part of the predicted £5.5million overspend £400,000 relates to vacancies that the trust had planned not to fill but will now have to spend so as not to impact on health services.

The overspend also includes £900,000 that the trust will have to pay towards the new treatment centre at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon and £1.6million on practice based commissioning, a new nationally imposed scheme allowing GPs to commission services.

Mrs Dunn and colleagues will be meeting strategic health authority bosses soon to discuss the finances.

The strategic health authority has not yet released any of the £14million to the trust. It is planned to be released in stages once certain milestones have been reached.

The money is coming from other health trusts in the region who have underspent and the trust will have to repay the money next year.

The strategic health authority is holding an extraordinary meeting today in Chippenham to decide its preferred option on merging PCTs and health trusts in the region.

The Government has ordered PCTs to be merged and in future they will not provide services. The Government says merging health trusts will save £250million nationally.