Mid Yorks finances - what a mess!

Patients know that I am interested in the finances of our local health system and this week a patient, who works for Mid Yorks NHS Trust, gave me a copy of a paper detailing workforce reform measures to reduce the Trusts costs. Mid Yorks NHS Trust runs Pontefract, Pinderfields and Dewsbury hospitals and they have had financial problems for a number of years.

The paper states that they have an underlying financial deficit of £37 million. Over 70% of the Trusts costs are on staff and it is inconceivable that the Trust will be able to tackle the deficit without reviewing the cost of the pay bill. In the paper it identifies up to 200 possible jobs that may be a risk.

The paper has bench marked the Trusts performance against other similar hospitals financial performance. Some of the information makes for very interesting reading. It has identified that theatre utilisation in the Trust is in the lower quartile of similar Trusts but makes the point that the average earnings for doctors employed by the Trust are the highest in the region!

They have quite a challenge to drive down costs, drive up productivity and to continually improve the quality of the service they provide. We wish them every success because we want a financially and clinically viable local hospital, but yet again I am afraid it is watch this space!




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