23 May 2003
The rising cost of primary care drugs and clinical negligence claims has thrown NHS Wales's finances into chaos, it was claimed this week, with overall deficits of £44.1m threatening financial meltdown at some NHS trusts.
Some trusts are in immediate financial danger, auditors claimed. Opposition MPs at the Welsh Assembly have demanded an investigation after it was found that all five Welsh health authorities are also running big losses.
In his annual report on the organisation, auditor general Sir John Bourn found that NHS Wales was more than £16m in deficit at the end of 2001/02, despite being bailed out to the tune of £11.2m by a 'strategic assistance' Assembly grant.
But Bourn's report shows that last year's figures will pale into insignificance compared with the projected shortfall of £40m–£44.1m for 2002/03. The Assembly has already announced there will be no further strategic assistance.
The main problems have been the rising cost of drugs for primary care trusts, a single-year hike of almost £36m in payouts for negligence and personal injury claims, and the rising cost of agency nurses, Bourn reported.
Auditors expressed concerns over the finances of seven trusts. Two, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust and Ceredigion and Mid Wales NHS Trust, are in 'serious financial danger', as they have 'no achievable recovery plan in place', Bourn's officers told Public Finance.
A spokesman for the opposition party, Plaid Cymru, said the government's restructuring would not solve the issue: 'The debts will simply be carried over and adopted by NHS trusts and health authorities, which may need to cut services.'
NHS Wales was dealt a second blow this week when a separate report highlighted concerns over hygiene at many hospitals. The report, also by Sir John Bourn, notes 'significant variations in the cleaning approaches adopted by individual trusts' and says 'most hospitals still have some way to go before they have a real "clean culture"'.
PFmay2003
