NHS hospitals struggling to meet savings

West Yorkshire NHS trusts are facing an uphill struggle to meet tough financial targets after being hit with the rising costs of caring for patients during a busy winter.
Cash strapped: Hospitals in Yorkshire and the Humber are running at a deficit.Cash strapped: Hospitals in Yorkshire and the Humber are running at a deficit.
Cash strapped: Hospitals in Yorkshire and the Humber are running at a deficit.

Opening extra wards and hiring agency staff to cope with winter demand are among the pressures facing cash-strapped hospitals.

And fears have been raised that they are being plunged even further into the red after losing out on millions of pounds in NHS funding linked to strict performance targets.

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Wakefield-based Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust – which runs Pinderfield, Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals – expects to be more than £20m in deficit at the year-end.

Finance director Jane Hazelgrave said: “We do not expect to improve on this position. Every year we are set challenging targets and do our best to meet them.”

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust is forecasting a £45.2m deficit at the end of the year.

Director of finance Gary Boothby said said: “Alongside our already stretching financial efficiency targets, we are in one of the most difficult winters ever experienced in the NHS.”