Nuffield Trust Senior Policy Analyst Sally Gainsbury responded to the finances report for NHS trusts in England: “Last year NHS Improvement estimated the underlying deficit at the end of 2017/18 was around £4.3bn. In its report today it admits that figure is likely to have grown to around £5bn – the equivalent to the annual costs of 11 acute hospitals. This is despite services making a further £3bn plus in cost savings in the financial year 2018/19. While it is true more money is coming into the health service in the year that has just started, this boils down to just £1bn extra for NHS trusts. That leaves them dependent on continued short term one off cost cuts and emergency funds.”
Full article in Nuffield Trust, 13 June 2019