According to the National Audit Office (NAO), the government’s botched reforms of the NHS are leading to financial ruin for many hospital trusts.

Recent figures show that an unsustainable £500 million loss is forecast for this year. A £404 million deficit for NHS trusts and a £108 million deficit for foundation trusts.

The NAO says that it is due to “overambitious planning assumptions” behind the Conservatives’ reforms; and the fact that there is “no organisation … responsible for taking a strategic view across the whole local health economy”.

One of the trusts struggling financially is the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, where the problems are exacerbated by the poor performance of private contractor Carillion. Due to Carillion, the hospital failed its cleaning quality audit last year, had the worst food hygiene record in the NHS this year, and has the worst industrial relations record in the country.

Yet it seems that the NHS trust is powerless to replace Carillion, which is locked into the contract until 2018. Surely, in any system involving private companies, there needs to be a provision for replacing failing providers with ones who will do the job they are paid for?

Labour’s health spokesperson, Andy Burnham, has committed the next Labour government to ensuring that the NHS is the preferred provider in the health service; and Labour will reverse the disastrous reforms from the Conservative-led Coalition that are threatening the very existence of our NHS.

The next Labour government also needs to look again at those Private Finance Initiative contracts where the NHS is receiving poor value for money.

Andy Newman, Chippenham Labour Party Parliamentary candidate, Elm Hayes, Corsham.