Essex’s new mental health provider trust must deliver £43m of savings over the next five years to hit its business plan agreed with regulators, the trust’s interim chief executive has told HSJ.
Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust, which has forecast revenues of £332m for 2017-18, is drawing up plans for a “significant reconfiguration” to find the bulk of the savings. It will consult on these from the autumn with a view to implementing them next April.
The trust, formed last month after South Essex Partnership University FT’s effective acquisition of North Essex Partnership University FT, will focus on restructuring its back office and corporate function this financial year.
Chief executive of the trust’s interim board Sally Morris said its business case, approved by NHS Improvement a month before the merger, planned for a deficit in the next two years, a breakeven position 2019-20, and small surpluses in the two following years.
A breakeven position will require a substantial improvement from the £8.6m deficit control total the trust was been set for 2017-18. Most of the deficit comes from North Essex, which posted a £7.7m deficit last year.
Full story in The HSJ, 4 May 2017