The NHS Confederation has said the King’s Fund report published today (9 October), ‘Financial failure in the NHS: What causes it and how best to manage it’, is a great contribution to the debate defined in the 2015 Challenge Manifesto.
Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:
“Unfortunately, evidence of hospitals in financial deficit is a sign of our times with the NHS facing unprecedented financial pressures. These financial challenges require a sustained approach in the medium term. The King’s Fund report is a great contribution to the debate around the future of health and care as defined in the 2015 Challenge Manifesto.
“On the specifics, we have called for more to be done to support organisations in distress, so failure is only seen as a last resort. We believe that short-term solutions to long-term financial problems are not sustainable and we maintain that the only way to turn around a failing organisation is to look at the challenges being faced across the whole system, rather than trying to solve them in isolation within one trust.
“The rules of engagement around crisis-driven change needed to be clearer and we were pleased to have secured reforms in the Care Act to strengthen the involvement of patients and staff in the Trust Special Administration (TSA) process. As we continue to work on a cross-party committee advising on the new guidance to TSAs, we will be adamant that the rules for TSAs need to be as clear, realistic and meaningful as possible.”
