£1.8bn 'transformation fund' was used to keep NHS afloat, say auditors

Money set aside to stabilise NHS England was spent on dealing with day-to-day pressures, National Audit Office finds

A cash injection of £1.8bn that was supposed to be spent stabilising the health service’s finances in England has instead been used to cope with day-to-day pressures, a report by official auditors has found.

The NHS received the money from the sustainability and transformation fund in 2016-17. It was meant to set up structures in order to survive on less money from 2017-18 onwards, the National Audit Office said.

A combination of factors are at play. Hospitals have fewer beds than last year, so they are less able to deal with the recent, ongoing surge in illness. Last week, for example, the bed occupancy rate at 17 of England’s 153 acute hospital trusts was 98% or more, with the fullest – Walsall healthcare trust – 99.9% occupied.

Related: Mental health still losing out in NHS funding, report finds

Continue reading... January 19, 2018 at 05:31AM