Hospital trust receives £2.5m to cover strike losses

Nurses Strike York Hospital 18 Jan 2023. Photo: YorkMix.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has received £2.5m to cover losses from industrial action between April and October.

Andrew Bertram, the trust’s finance director, announced that he had been told the funds had been confirmed in the morning of November 29 when he addressed the trust’s board of directors.

Furthermore, £4.5m has been received by the trust from its fair share of residual resources that the ICB has received, of which all providers in its local system have also received a share.

Mr Bertram said these are “significant funds that will clearly improve our position.”

In September, the hospital trust’s deficit stood at £11.8m.

It had been heading for a £40m deficit without action, with industrial action, agency spending, and more tariffs on drugs and devices.

The trust was forced to postpone several operations and appointments throughout strike action in September and October.

Before the strikes, a spokesperson said: “We appreciate this situation is frustrating for patients affected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“Anyone with an appointment should continue to attend as planned unless they have been contacted to rearrange.

“Urgent and emergency treatment remains our priority and patients can continue to access care from our emergency departments, maternity services and critical services for inpatients.

“It is vital that people do not put off seeking care.”

The trust’s agency spend is capped at 3.7 per cent of its overall pay spend, but at the end of October expenditure on agency staffing was £3.7m ahead of the cap.

Mr Bertram has been asking departments within the trust where money has been wasted in an attempt to bring the deficit down as efficiently as possible.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*