A new survey by NHS Providers has found that services are being reduced and jobs cut as the NHS budget tightens further.
The NHS are aiming to recover a predicted financial shortfall that reached almost £7 billion this year, and trusts have been asked to reduce running costs while also improving performance.
In the survey, 47 per cent of trust leaders said they are scaling back services due to finances, with an additional 43 per cent considering doing this. Services at risk include virtual wards, rehabilitation centres, talking therapies and diabetes services for young people, which show the extremely difficult choices that NHS leaders are being forced to make.
37 per cent of surveyed trust leaders said their organisation is cutting clinical posts to achieve financial targets, with a further 40 per cent considering doing this. 86 per cent of trust leaders said their organisations will need to cut corporate roles (HR, finance, estates, digital and communications).
The scale of job cuts could see some trusts aiming to free up 500 roles, with one organisation planning to cut 1000 jobs.
Also not off the table include temporary staff costs and recruitment freezes, and there are concerns for the impact of these on overstretched front-line teams. 94 per cent of respondents said that the steps needed to reach these financial goals would have a negative impact on staff wellbeing and culture when morale, burnout, and disillusionment over pay and conditions is only getting worse.
The survey also found that 26 per cent said they will need to close some services (with 55 per cent considering this), 45 per cent are moderately or extremely concerned that their actions will compromise patient experience, and 88 per cent said they didn’t have the funding to invest in prevention.
Interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said: “Trust leaders have also heard loud and clear that overspending will not be tolerated and have made major inroads in tackling the huge financial deficit facing the NHS.
“But let’s also be clear: cuts have consequences. NHS trusts face competing priorities of improving services for patients and boosting performance while trying to balance the books with ever-tighter budgets. National leaders must appreciate that makes a hard job even harder.
“It’s really worrying to hear trust leaders tell us highly valued staff and services including vital work to address health inequality and prevention could be among the early casualties of budget cuts. These decisions are never taken lightly and will always be a last resort.”
