Four Liverpool hospitals could merge as the NHS faces a black hole of nearly £1 BILLION in Merseyside and Cheshire.
A leaked report warns the region’s NHS will be £999m in the red by 2021 due to funding shortages and spiralling costs. Swingeing cuts are being planned to balance the books, with nine Liverpool hospital trusts expected to slash £167m over the next five years.
A merger between the Royal Liverpool, Broadgreen, Aintree and Liverpool Women’s hospitals is one of the radical proposals included in the document.
Anti-austerity campaigners and unions say the cuts will be a “disaster” that will lead to job losses and spell the end for vital services.
The trust that runs the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals must make £42.8m of savings between now and 2021 – more than £8m a year, the document reveals.
Mental health trust Mersey Care will also be hammered with £25.4m to be slashed from its books, followed by Aintree hospital with £21.6m. Liverpool Women’s hospital, which previously warned it could become “financially unviable” due to massive funding issues, is expected to find £6m.
Full story in The Liverpool Echo, 12 September 2016