Press release
NHS Bury approves plans to restore financial balance
Following a meeting of the NHS Bury Board held on 15 September 2010, a range of measures aimed at restoring financial balance have been agreed.
Demand for NHS services in Bury continues to rise and as the local commissioner of health services, NHS Bury is currently spending in the region of £1.3m more than the £25.8m it receives in income each month. This situation cannot be allowed to continue and as a result, the NHS Bury Board considered at its meeting on 15 September, a programme of corrective measures.
The plans include a range of heightened efficiency measures aimed at cutting management costs within the organisation as follows;
- To release around £700,000 by the end of the current financial year in management costs, this will include the non filling of vacant non-clinical posts where appropriate.
- Withholding £350,000 that was set aside for GPs as an incentive payment.
- A further savings target of 3% will be applied to all internal management budgets immediately and will be increased by a further 3% next year.
A range of service related changes have also been agreed including:
- To reduce the number of referrals made by GP practices to secondary care and to cease unnecessary follow up appointments at hospital outpatients.
- Temporarily suspending the commissioning of a number of discretionary procedures, such as homeopathy, varicose vein surgery and cosmetic surgery.
- Temporarily suspending the commissioning of IVF, however, treatment would be honoured for Bury couples part way through treatment, and treatment would be considered for women of a critical age.
- Increasing access for patients to be treated for minor illness and injuries in the community, rather than in the hospital.
- The tightening of the criteria for eligibility for hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery. These procedures will be available for those patients who meet the agreed clinical criteria – therefore these procedures will not be suspended.
It is recognised that there will still be exceptional cases where the Trust will need to set up procedures to consider cases on an individual basis.
The above schemes, together with initiatives that are already in progress, are planned to deliver recurrent annual savings of £16.2m.
Paul Horrocks, Chair of NHS Bury said: “The current situation we face sees the Trust overspending each month by a significant amount, and this was not sustainable, we have to live within budgets. We remain focussed on our local health priorities, but as part of this we must ensure that the money allocated to us is invested wisely and that we don’t overspend.”
John Boyington CBE, Chief Executive of NHS Bury added: “I sympathise with the patients affected by these measures, but it is important to note that they aren’t permanent arrangements, these restrictions are, for now, being implemented on a temporary basis until the end of the financial year. They aim to help us get back to a state of financial balance, and after that time they will be reviewed.”
“Put simply, we spent more in the first half of the year than we should have done, in the region of £1.3m per month more than we receive in income, and we needed to implement some restrictions now so that we could stem this overspend, regain financial balance and stop any longer term implications. The vast majority of patients should not notice any significant change and will continue to get the NHS service they need when they need it.”
“As part of this process, we will be looking to drive out waste in the NHS, and will be looking for the active support of local people and communities to help us to make the best possible use of the our NHS.”
ENDS
Date: 21 September 2010
FOR PRESS & MEDIA ENQUIRIES: contact Caroline Dearden, Corporate Communications Manager on 0161 762 3106 or email communications@bury.nhs.uk
Notes to editor:
The NHS Bury Board discussed and agreed the range of measures detailed in report 1.8 at its meeting on September 15.
There were two caveats in relation to part 1.4 in the report to add to the recommendations detailed within the report. The caveats were specifically in relation to the funding of IVF treatment and consist of;
- Funding of IVF will be honoured for patients from Bury who are part-way through treatment at this time.
- Funding of IVF for women reaching a critical age from Bury will be approved if all the other previously agreed criteria have been met, as to significantly delay funding their treatment could risk future chances of a successful IVF attempt.
NHS Bury confirmed its' commitment to involve the full range of stakeholders, including hard to reach groups, and to collate the views and opinions of people, to consider during the review of the measures at the end of the financial year.