This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
£479m budget deficit for southern England NHS trusts
A leaked report has shown that parts of southern England are facing a £479 million NHS budget deficit by 2020.
Released by Reading Borough Council, the draft document proposes savings in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West, including ‘increased use of healthcare assistants’ in place of qualified nurses.
The document outlines plans to make £34 million of ‘workforce savings’ and suggests the creation of a ‘staff bank’ to help reduce expenditure on agencies. It also places emphasis on strategies to encourage residents to stop smoking and eat healthily.
The NHS said the ‘efficiency’ measures would ‘improve health outcomes’, despite Reading Borough Council expressing ‘serious concerns about transparency’.
Cllr Graeme Hoskin, lead member for Health, said: "As a council we are opposed to the underfunding of the NHS, but we do accept that locally NHS colleagues are being forced to make some tough decisions. At this stage however, it is not clear how policy decisions will be made, how those decisions could be challenged and what role the local councils and, more importantly, local residents will be permitted to play.
"If services are considered for relocation and residents are made to travel further to access health services, it is hard to see how those decisions can be properly debated. Savings targets appear to be determined by allocating percentage cuts against unrealistic timescales, but we know the health and financial benefits of preventative work can take a bit longer to realise.
"In its current form, the NHS five year plan for health services in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire is a missed opportunity. We want to prompt greater public scrutiny by residents and patients. As the provider and commissioner of social care services in Reading we would also welcome the opportunity to properly engage in this very important process."
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