Where NHS axe will fall to save £950m

Amanda Crook

March 08, 2010

| Submit Comments | Comments (12) | Previous | Next

Secret plans for a 10 per cent cut in NHS spending in Greater Manchester have been leaked to the M.E.N.

Regional health bosses are hoping to make ‘savings’ of £950m over the next four years but details of how this might be achieved have not been made public. Now a leaked letter reveals NHS North West have ordered health bosses to draw up plans for:

10 per cent cuts in primary, community, acute and mental health sectors by 2013
15pc cuts in acute and in-patient mental health care by 2013
10pc cuts in demand for hospital care by next year
Slashing management costs by 15pc over four years.

It also instructs managers to scrutinise pay and staffing levels in a bid to cut costs.

In the letter Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West, says: “The challenges we face will be unprecedented and will require optimal planning and delivery at all levels.

He adds: “It is critical that individual organisations take action to minimise their cost bases and improve productivity and efficiency, whilst driving prevention and quality.”

Regional health bosses have now set up a task force to oversee the planned changes. Across the north west the NHS has to make between £2.25bn and £3bn of efficiency savings.

Royal College of Nursing north west regional director Steve Flanagan said: “We know the country is broke and that the health service is facing a tough time ahead. But it would be a false economy to take a ‘slash and burn’ approach to tackling these financial challenges.

“Front line clinical jobs must be protected and the NHS needs to work in partnership with the RCN and other health unions to safeguard patient services and those that provide them.”

Dr J S Bamrah, chairman of the British Medical Association’s north west regional council, said: “We really have to have a good look at bureaucracy because it has increased hugely over the last decade. But we need to be very cautious before we start looking to cut doctors or nurses.”

Health economists predict England’s big cities will bear the brunt of cutbacks. John Appleby, chief economist of health think tank the King’s Fund, has suggested Greater Manchester may have too many hospitals.

A spokesman for NHS North West said: “We would like to reassure patients, the public and NHS staff that no targets have been set to ‘cut’ services or jobs. Individual Trusts have been asked to start looking at how they can make services more productive, whilst continuing to improve the services offered to patients.”

| Submit Comments | Comments (12) | Previous | Next

Showing comments 1 to 12 and replies | View All

bobbydazzler (08/03/2010 at 10:59)

final salary pensions the country cannot afford it and it is not right that the privates sector has to subsidise the pensions of the public sector.

Bring back common sense (08/03/2010 at 13:31)

yawn yawn yawn When will people give up on this absolute belief that public sector workers somehow live in the lap of luxury in their retirement and are the absolute cause of the countries money worries. They don't. I dont see thousands of porters etc who have second retirment homes and buy flash cars etc when they reach 65. Public sector workers certainly front line NHS staff do more unpaid work than the country could actually pay for, it is what keeps the system afloat, no going home because the clock says so. It is not like the pension comes out of nowhere, contributions are paid every month just like everyone else. Ive said it many times before if you are so conviced that working for the NHS is so cushy come join them and share your dream of cushiness, Im sure there are many tasks you would not want to perform in a million years.Dont blame the public sector workers who keep your life running nicely - look at the banks with their profits and bonuses. The ones who run your private pension funds.

Black Flag (08/03/2010 at 14:05)

Bring back common sense: "Dont blame the public sector workers who keep your life running nicely - look at the banks with their profits and bonuses."

Trying to replace one scapegoat by offering up another scapegoat isn't the most credible approach. In any case, the main issue with the banks is that they haven't been making profits. If they had, there wouldn't have been a problem.

ebble, manchester (08/03/2010 at 15:15)

A 10% cut in funding can easily be achieved in the NHS without any loss of service. The NHS has to be the most overstaffed organisation in the country, with thousands of pointless managers and next to useless admin staff.

If the NHS ever gets a proper IT system which works it could sack loads of people whose jobs seems to consist of little more than wandering slowly around carrying dog-eared folders of notes and stopping for chats along the way.

STRETFORDIAN, TRAFFORD (08/03/2010 at 15:18)

bobbydazzler ,glad to see a comment showing common sense ..though i feel that there are to many of them and not enough like you or me to make the changes needed....socilism the modern face of fatcat society...

Christine Jackson (08/03/2010 at 16:47)

I was bemused to see that the MRI now has a Smoking Police team, you see them in their special uniforms(!) and its their job to go around telling people to stop smoking on the site (and nothing else). Couldn't Security do this instead? A quite ridiculous use of money, but no doubt it will allow the Trust to place a tick in some bureaucrat's form for being proactive in enforcing the no smoking rule, no doubt a manager is also being paid extra for supervising them etc. Will a smoker really quit smoking because of them - I doubt it. What has the Trust cut back on to fund this?

Is It Me? (08/03/2010 at 17:16)

Give the hospitals back to the matrons and doctors. Admin staff should be greatly reduced and those remaining should work for the matrons and doctors at a more realistic salary!

gulliblenotme, bury (09/03/2010 at 08:25)

It costs Britain £40 Million every day to be in the EU, why do the NHS need to make these savings when one days membership would pay 20,000 nurses for one year.Vote UKIP to stop these wastes and put Britain first

mel c (09/03/2010 at 15:49)

Ebble you are so so so right - a top heavy organisation that needs trimming down and excessive wages curbed
Money needs investing in actual services/nursing staff etc and not fat cat managers!!!

sandra ramskill (10/03/2010 at 20:44)

10% cuts in mental health care by 2013.. Well considering I've been trying for the past 10yrs to get help with depression I assume I will die without help then.
Ive spoken to many people online also and they cant get support now for depression etc( because of money) so god help us all by 2013..More suicides I expect the government will be pleased with that, less people to ask for help OR complain.I willvote UKIP..not sure it will be enough to get them in BUT I hope others will also see the 3 main parliments partys have done little or nothing for us for many yrs now.

tricky2009, manchester (19/03/2010 at 23:55)

they are cutting the things that matter like nhs staff and hours working and sticking to budgets doesnt work coz one ward saves on there budget then they just give them less money for that coming year. more staff are needed and things need to be put into place in stead of concentrating on money money money the ''patients matter''

Ahmed the Glaswegian, Pendleton (19/04/2010 at 13:47)

10% cuts in health?

What a mis-management of funding. A backward step that will no doubt give the government onus to cut more funding towards health care.

Our government has earmarked £800million towards this Global Climate Change fund. Our government has spent billions trying to "free the Afghans" and "free the Iraqis" from respective opressive regimes and they have the cheek to restrict the funding to services we rely on. Other minor examples of mismanagement of public money - the 2012 Olympic logo cost £400,000!

There is it seems a lack of desire and commitment for the common good. The NHS should be restructuring its management system to trim costs and directing those towards services. The NHS budget should increase, not decrease!
Defense budget should also be 'trimmed', we are in no imediate threat from any country. And before anyone starts, Iran is in no position to and has no direct reason to attack Britain. Russia wouldn't risk collapse again after only just getting back on its feet. We are part of major alliances which means we don't need to swagger about wasting precious money on expanding and trying to keep up.

We can avoid cutting important public services!

And just to add in another point. We need to invest more in making more of a mark in the renwables manufacturing industry, we have the resources. Germany is currently the leader in this field and we have been buying alot of wind turbines from German manufacturers.
With rewenable energy targets of most major countries increasing, we could easily compete for that business!

()

Report

Health