04 April 2003
A West Country health authority faces a £59m deficit as a result of incompetent financial management, inspectors have found.
A report from district auditor Stephen Malyn shows that the deficit forecast for Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority would have been even higher - £81m, or 6.5% of its annual spending – but for £45m in extra financial help from the Department of Health over the past two years.
The report highlights a series of deficiencies. These include overly optimistic projections and savings targets, failures in financial control, increasing drug costs and problems with recruiting and retaining staff.
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