NHS trusts are in the red and need emergency bailouts or patient care will get even worse 


  • Experts will warn that the NHS needs emergency bail-out from Government
  • Analysis will suggest 75% of hospitals and ambulance trusts are in the red
  • It will show the figure has trebled in two years and highlight funding issues

Sophie Borland, Health Editor For The Daily Mail

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The NHS needs an emergency bail-out from the Government otherwise patient care will get even worse, experts will warn on Monday. 

A damning analysis from the Kings Fund think-tank is expected to reveal that three quarters of hospitals and ambulance trusts are in the red.

This figure has trebled in two years and severe funding shortfalls are becoming the norm in hospitals, the ambulance service and mental health trusts, it will show.

The financial crisis is already taking its toll on patients and waiting times in AE and for routine operations are their worst in a decade.

The NHS needs an emergency bail-out from the Government otherwise patient care will get even worse, experts will warn on Monday

And last month the head of the NHS Simon Stevens predicted it would get even worse and told staff to brace themselves for ‘bloody tough’ times.

This year, the Government injected an extra £3.8 billion into its £110 billion budget to help ease the situation and similar amounts are promised until 2020.

But today’s analysis will warn that this is not enough and without extra cash, waiting times will get even longer and standards of care will fall.

The NHS’s budget has simply not kept pace with the growing demands from migration, the ageing population and the impact of obesity – leading to higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Hospitals have been urged to rein in their spending and many are cutting back on doctor and nursing posts, leading to poorer care and longer waits.

Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, predicted it would get even worse and told staff to brace themselves for ‘bloody tough’ times

Today’s analysis will conclude that the NHS cannot maintain the current standards of care on its existing budget.

It will also warn that the financial crisis is spreading to top performing hospitals, ambulance services and mental health trusts, having previously been confined to a few failing organisations.

Stephen Dalton, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents senior managers said: ‘This report shows how far the financial crisis facing the NHS has spread across the whole system, with providers and commissioners now firmly in a declining position.

‘The uncertainty following the Brexit vote is compounding this financial concern.

‘The report also stresses the impact on community and mental health trusts, many of which continue to see their income decline.

‘The cause of this should be of no surprise to anyone as funding simply does not match demand.’

A separate report by the Health Foundation charity warns that the NHS is severely short of nurses and GPs.

It is highly critical of plans to recruit foreign staff and to train-up graduates, ‘physician associates’, to carry out appointments in place of doctors.

The report concludes that these ‘quick fix’ solutions ‘will only put a sticking plaster on deep-seated and systemic problems for the NHS.’

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