NHS Deficit

So the NHS makes the headlines again for running up a huge deficit, estimated at £512m.

So how does the NHS lose money? Essentially the NHS is made up of lots of independent parts, all trying to balance the books.

Government gives money to the various PCTs around the country. The PCTs then have to prioritise how they spend this money; paying GP practices, paying for the cost of drugs, and, of course paying the hospitals for the care they provide.

Dr Phibes' attention has been drawn to a particular problem down in Bournemouth. It would appear that Bournemouth hospital have been doing a sterling job at treating patients. The problem is that the government has not given Bournemouth PCT enough money to pay for all this treatment. This means that either Bournemouth Hospital will be underpaid for the work it has done, or Bournemouth PCT will be overspent. In other words somebody has to lose.

Whose fault is it?

Well who is stoking up demand, promising that all patients referred to hospital will be seen within a certain time, while at the same time saying it has to be done with an inadequate sum of money?

Admittedly some trusts seem to deal financially better than others, but in order to balance the books this inevitably is going to lead to a cut in services, or longer waiting lists. If you read the above newspaper article, Bournemouth stress they have the capacity to deal with the work, it's just they're not going to be paid for it.

So it's divide and conquer. When 2 NHS organisations are arguing like this with each other over funding, what chance has everybody else got?