Health providers across the Black Country could face a funding deficit of more than £500 million if they do not change their ‘unsustainable’ ways of working, a report has said.
Mammoth savings are desperately needed across hospitals, surgeries and clinics before bills are racked up that health trusts and clinical commissioning groups cannot afford.
Health bosses are now looking at jobs losses and ways of drastically cutting A&E admissions to bring costs down.
The region’s Strategic Transformation Plan (STP), which has had input from all the major councils and health providers, has revealed that a funding deficit of £512m could be racked up by 2021 if changes are not made.
It added: “It is clear to us that our current ways of operating are unsustainable.”
Health providers in Staffordshire also need to make mammoth savings, or they too will be left with a funding deficit of more than £500m by 2021. In a similar document, plans to cut staff numbers and reduce the cost of managing some of its buildings have been outlined.