Our response to latest financial figures from NHS Improvement

Nuffield Trust responds to NHS Improvement financial figures from April to September.

Press release

Published: 18/11/2016

Commenting on the latest financial figures from NHS Improvement, Nuffield Trust Senior Policy Analyst Sally Gainsbury said: 

These figures also reveal how hard NHS trusts are working to keep costs down. Providers have curbed the amount they are overspending by around a third in the second half of this year - from £300m to £200m per month.

Sally Gainsbury, Senior Policy Analyst, Nuffield Trust

“Today’s figures lay bare the dilemma facing NHS hospitals and other services. More and more people need healthcare, yet the money available to provide it is tightly squeezed.  

“NHSI’s report shows hospitals and other services are now forecasting a deficit of around £670m by the end of this financial year. That looks like a huge turn-around from last year’s deficit, yet is in fact flattered by the inclusion of an extra £1.8bn of emergency support pumped into the hospital sector, making the real forecast more like £2.5bn. 

“These figures also reveal how hard NHS trusts are working to keep costs down. Providers have curbed the amount they are overspending by around a third in the second half of this year - from £300m to £200m per month.3 If they keep their levels of overspending steady for the rest of the year, they will end the year with a £2.8bn deficit - the result of over £2bn of cuts to hospital and other service costs.

“Exactly how much the overall deficit will be at the end of this year remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: meeting financial targets in the face of rising patient numbers already means longer waiting times and may well soon mean cuts to services as well. ” 

Notes to editors

1. The underlying deficit for the last financial year was £3.7bn, according to analysis by the Nuffield Trust

2. £1.8bn has been made available in this financial year to NHS providers, through the Sustainability and Transformation Fund. This is equivalent to over half the cash increase for the whole NHS this year. 

3. Nuffield Trust analysis of today’s figures reveals that in the first 3 months of the financial year, services across the NHS were overspending at the rate of £300m a month. Between July and September, the monthly overspend reduced to just over £200m. To meet the NHSI target, providers would need to reduce these overspends further to around £100m per month by January. 

To speak to Sally Gainsbury or for further information, please contact: Leonora Merry on 07780 475 571 or Leonora.merry@nuffieldtrust.org.uk 

Comments