NHS runs out of cash at year-end
Health service trusts make desperate country-wide cuts just before year-end
As hospitals struggle to balance their books at the end of the financial
year, patients are being turned away from basic operations.
The Times reported that NHS
trusts are making sweeping cuts across the country in a hurried attempt to
address their debt problems before the end of March.
Last year the NHS reported a net deficit of ?512m.
The cutbacks include instructions for family doctors to send fewer patients
to hospital and A&E departments to see fewer people. A wide range of routine
procedures have also been suspended.
Other measures also see staff being offered voluntary redundancy, such as the
Devon Primary Care Trust, which has offered voluntary redundancy to 5000 staff.
According to The Times, the most comprehensive cuts come from the
North Yorkshire and York Primary care Trust, which has a deficit of ?24m.
Further reading
MPs slate NHS for ignoring auditors
NHS finances: A breakdown of trusts