Agency staff and pay caps ‘not the whole answer’ says Webster

The report maintains that there will be a rigid continuation of limited growth in national funding, increasing demand, rising costs, real price cuts and the prospect of large cash transfers to the Better Care Fund - all of which make 2015/16 the most problematic year for the NHS this century.

With 114 providers ending 2014/15 in deficit and with a net overspend of more than £800 million, the King’s Fund suggests that 66 per cent of all provider organisations are forecasting a further deficit for this year – with a remarkable 89 per cent of acute trusts expecting to overspend. Estimates by NHS Providers indicate that overspending by all trusts could amount to more than £2 billion by April 2016.

Responding to the report, Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “We are seeing a system under significant pressure which is demonstrated most intensively in acute trusts, with widespread performance challenges and almost nine out of ten predicting a deficit this year. We need a system which supports our acute hospitals and ensures they deliver good care.

“The report also highlights the need for a long-term NHS workforce strategy to ensure that the right number of appropriately trained and skilled health and care workers are in place to meet the needs of a 21st century NHS. Short-term initiatives around agency staff and capping pay will make a contribution to NHS finances but will not be the whole answer.

“The NHS will need to explore all aspects of spending to tackle the big challenge of delivering £22 billion of recurrent savings by 2020. We are working with national bodies and other NHS partners over the summer to bring our members closer into the discussion and to understand how the NHS might close the finance gap set out in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View.”

Read the report