29 September 2006
The NHS foundation trust regulator has warned primary care trusts to be realistic in contract negotiations over the number of patients that need hospital care.
In a review of foundations' financial performance for the first quarter of 2006/07, Monitor chair William Moyes said business-like relationships between trusts and commissioners were vital if reductions in waiting times were to be maintained.
Some commissioners had much lower expectations of patient numbers than foundation trusts, and their insistence on lower activity was being fuelled by financial difficulties.
Fewer patients means less income for foundations and in some cases their income could be further eroded if they treated more people than agreed. Once the ceiling is met, any further treatment is paid at 50% of the national tariff.
Moyes said lower activity levels could jeopardise progress towards the 2008 18-week referral-to-treatment target, make financial and operational planning difficult and endanger foundations' finances.
PFsep2006
