West Suffolk Hospital predict it'll be £28.5 million over budget by April
The Trust says it has had to take some difficult decisions.
The trust running West Suffolk Hospital is considering cost cutting measures as a new report's predicting it'll have gone £28.5 million over budget by the end of the financial year.
That's according to papers from the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which also suggest it's considering saving money by tightening up on recruitment and reviewing every purchase over five hundred pounds.
The Trust tell us while it's financial position is very challenging, it's taken a rapid, focused and sometimes difficult actions to control its finances.
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s chief executive Dr Ewen Cameron said:
“I thank my colleagues for their hard work and contribution - there have recently been positive signs of savings through the efforts of colleagues, our cost improvement programme and the additional measures in place to reduce spend. Returning to financial sustainability is hard but necessary, and we continue taking considerable steps to get back on a sustainable financial footing.”
The Trust has multiple measures in place to reduce spending and make savings including reviewing:
- Existing assets (theatre utilisation, clinic and diagnostic utilisation)
- Procurement (non-pay panel to review all spending, commercial contracts review, medicines optimisation)
- Workforce (closely reviewing all recruitment activity, reducing temporary and agency staffing usage and spend, slowing recruitment, new clinical and replacement non-clinical roles require Integrated Care Board approval).
The Trust says it has had to take some difficult decisions, and the following actions are in train:
- Reducing the service offered by the staff psychology team to colleagues – the Trust has been consulting with staff about the staff psychology team service and the new service model has not yet been fully implemented
- Winding down its ‘free to use’ staff Abbeycroft Leisure offer, which will remain ongoing for several months as staff reach the end of their annual period of free membership. Changes around Abbeycroft Leisure will be effective from April 2025 onwards. However, the Trust has agreed a subsidised gym membership rate for colleagues to use once their ‘free to use’ membership comes to an end.
The Trust says it's currently experiencing financial challenges, for reasons like:
- Non-recurrent funding received during Covid-19
- Rising costs due to high inflation in recent years
- Pay-related overspends
- Non-recurring costs relating to backdated pay claims, industrial action, and the winter escalation ward
- Non-pay related costs, such as drugs and community equipment.
The trust says elements of the proposed plan for 2025/26 are currently being developed.