West Suffolk Hospital predicts £28.5m overspend

The health trust, which runs the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, has said it plans to stop or reduce some services after predicting a £28.5m overspend by the end of this financial year.

The amount was revealed in a report to the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), which manages the funding for all health care in the county.

In the report, the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) said the ICB had seen a "financial recovery plan" and the "likely forecast outturn is a deficit of £28.5m".

In a statement, WSFT chief executive Dr Ewen Cameron told the BBC that "rapid, focused and sometimes difficult actions" had been taken to "control our finances".

The report set out how WSFT planned to save money. It included tightening up on recruitment and getting a panel to review anything which cost more than £500.

The WSFT said it was also looking at getting "additional support to identify further in year (savings) opportunities".

The report said pay awards - including the one given to junior doctors - could "worsen" the position.

No details were given on which services could be ceased or reduced.

In its annual report, WSFT's budget for last year is shown as just under £400m, and was £94m overspent.

More than £89m of that was spent on structural defects associated with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) used in its roof and walls.

Peter Prinsley, Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds, said: "Labour had plans to put the foundations of the economy on a firm footing so it can support public services including the NHS."

He added: "The exact circumstances of why West Suffolk Hospital appear to be in such financial difficulty should be investigated."

Dr Cameron said: “While the trust’s financial position continues to be very challenging, we have taken rapid, focused and sometimes difficult actions to control our finances.

He added: "There have recently been positive signs of savings through the efforts of colleagues, our cost improvement programme and the additional measures in place to reduce spend.

"Returning to financial sustainability is hard but necessary, and we continue taking considerable steps to get back on a sustainable financial footing.”

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