28 February 2003
A West Country hospital trust accused of doctoring its waiting lists and accumulating millions of pounds in debts this week claimed it is on the mend, despite an Audit Commission report expressing 'major concerns' over its financial stability and governance.
The Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust claimed that financial and managerial problems flagged up in successive District Audit reports – the latest of which was published on February 25 – have now been addressed.
A spokeswoman for the trust told Public Finance that the report was already out of date because it had been undertaken in October 2002, before the replacement of the trust's chief executive and its director of finance. 'While we acknowledge that there is much work to be done, the publication of the report this week is somewhat misleading because it does not reflect the current state of the trust's finances or management practices,' she said.
Auditor Richard Lott acknowledged that the new management team was in place and had 'undertaken to remedy weaknesses' before he compiled his report. But he said he had 'not received assurance' that failings were being addressed properly.
The report itself outlines 'a significant number of serious failings at the RUH' during the 2000/01 and 2001/02 financial years, including 'a major financial deficit, weak performance management, non-compliance with regulations and the misreporting of waiting lists'.
Lott estimated the trust's debts at March 31, 2003 would be around £25m despite a one-off payment of £17.9m from the NHS. Waiting lists, meanwhile, were discovered to be inaccurate by a regional watchdog in November 2001, which found around 2,000 patients had been left off lists.
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