BMA warn of ‘disgraceful failure of patients’ by putting financial targets over care
Patient safety should not be compromised in order to meet financial targets, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned.
The report comes as new figures suggest the NHS is now planning to delay or cancel spending in half of local areas this year to balance the books.
The King’s Fund’s quarterly monitoring report found that 50% of clinical commissioning group (CCG) finance leads said achieving this year’s financial forecast was likely to depend on delaying or cancelling spending.
Responding to the report, Dr Mark Porter (pictured), BMA council chairman, said: “The NHS is now in a position where it has to put off spending because the money has run out, leaving patients waiting in pain and uncertainty.
“This is a disgraceful failure of our patients. Financial targets shouldn’t take priority over the need to provide safe and high quality care to those in need.”
He added: “Our health and social care systems can no longer cope without urgent action.
“In the run-up to the general election, we are calling on politicians of all parties not to duck this crisis any longer.
“This means, as a minimum, immediately bringing investment in line with other leading European countries and outlining credible, long-term plans that will safeguard the future of the fully funded and supported NHS that staff want and patients deserve.”
Richard Murray, director of policy for The King’s Fund, said: ‘With many CCGs planning to delay or cancel spending, local NHS leaders will be forced to make tough decisions about priorities and this is likely to have a direct impact on what care patients can access and how long they have to wait for it.
“This reinforces the underlying reality that demand for services is continuing to outstrip the rate at which the NHS budget is growing.”
The survey of finance directors suggests that NHS finances improved over the last quarter of 2016/17, with 54% trust finance directors expecting to have ended the year in surplus.
But while progress has been made in reducing spending on agency staff, the report suggests that the underlying financial position remains gloomy, with many trusts having relied on one-off actions such as land sales and payments from the Sustainability and Transformation Fund to improve their position.
The report details the results of an online survey of NHS trust finance directors carried out between April 13 and May 4.
Of the 256 NHS trust finance directors contacted, 84 responded.
In addition, 160 CCG finance leads were contacted, and 42 responded. Between them they covered 50 CCGs.
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