A leading London hospital trust is expected to record an annual deficit of between £180m and £191m – the biggest overspend in NHS history, the Guardian can reveal.
King’s College hospital trust believes it overshot its projected £146m deficit for 2018-19 by a further £34m-£45m after experiencing a series of setbacks, documents seen by the Guardian show.
The trust is struggling with the most serious financial problems in the NHS as a result of a private finance initiative (PFI) contract, high use of agency staff to cover its chronic lack of nurses, and being fined for missing the four-hour A&E target. The 2013 takeover by King’s of the Princess Royal university hospital (PRUH) in Orpington, Kent, has also increased its costs while it is paid less than other nearby hospitals for providing certain types of care.
Full Story: The Guardian, 4th April 2019