Full Story in HSJ 15 March 2018
NHS trusts have been forced to rein in plans for “essential” maintenance and infrastructure projects – leading to “significantly higher” fire risks and IT system vulnerability.
Providers had planned £4.3bn worth of capital projects in 2017-18 but many have had to curtail them after £1bn was removed from the national investment budget to prop up day to day spending.
Many trusts in deficit are reliant on cash support from the Department of Health and Social Care to support their capital programmes. These include Barts Health Trust, which required a loan of £29m to fulfil its plans for the year.
However, it reported in its board papers this month: “The trust received notification from NHS Improvement [in mid-January] that the DHSC will not be approving any new funds.