Hospital braced for cost cutting (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Hospital braced for cost cutting

WORRIED staff at the Great Western Hospital are steeling themselves for a series of cost-cutting measures.

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust has plunged a further £456,000 into the red in the space of a month, it was revealed yesterday.

The half yearly income and expenditure figures were discussed at a board meeting yesterday.

In September, the trust saw its deficit increase from £1,245,000 to £1,674,000.

And that has forced board members to recommend a series of drastic savings after the deficit figure was projected to get even worse by the end of the year.

In a plan designed to reduce the trust's deficit forecast of £1.77m, board members agreed to clamp down on staff training, professional and study leave and introduce a freeze on hiring new staff for departments that have overspent. A complete freeze on furniture and fittings has also been imposed with immediate effect, although items purchased from charitable funds will be accepted.

The use of nurse agency Thorn-bury will also be stopped in some areas as will agency medical locums.

And that has caused unrest among staff preparing for the busy festive period.

One nurse at the hospital, who did not want to be named, said: "What's going to happen if we have staff shortages in the lead up to Christmas?

"The winter months are busy at the best of times and it's a worry that the hospital might not replace staff who leave," she said.

" I'm also not happy about the fact they might cut back on our training as it's important you get the chance to develop professionally."

Another nurse, however, agreed with delaying training but said a freeze on vacancies could put a strain on hospital resources.

She said: "I think it's the right decision to put training on hold as patient care has to come first.

"The trust has to get its finances in order and cuts are inevitable I suppose, but staff are overworked as it is and if they don't keep staffing levels the same we're all going to suffer."

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust broke even at the end of the last financial year, although at one point it had a £1.6m overspend.

A strict recovery plan drawn up by the trust's chief executive Lyn Hill-Tout wiped out the deficit, a feat the hospital is confident of repeating.

Paul Bentley, the trust's human resources director, said: "The challenge we face is how we are going to reduce the deficit.

"We have an annual budget of £154m, so this equates to a one per cent overspend, but we are confident we will break even this financial year."

And Coun Steve Wakefield (Con, Toothill and Westlea), chairman of Swindon Council's health and external scrutiny sub-committee, agreed.

He said: "I would have thought there are a lot of highly paid and highly experienced managers who would be able to bring the budget back into line.

"I'm confident they can break even as we have still got six months of the financial year to go."