Concerns Raised Over NI HSC Trusts

Northern Ireland's Public Accounts Committee has raised concerns over the "financial squeeze" Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts are facing.

A report, entitled General Health Report and Social Care Sector 2012-13 and 2013-14, found that despite only the Western Trust failing to break-even in 2014-15.

Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, Michaela Boyle MLA said: "Although the HSC sector has been more generously funded than other areas of public spending over recent years, it faces an ever increasing demand for its services. This is partially as a result of an ageing population as well as increasing chronic conditions such as diabetes.

"Putting the HSC Trusts on a sustainable footing is a major challenge unless there is a significant change in funding or transformation of services. One significant problem that the HSC Trusts face is that they are unable to carry forward unused funds from one year to the next, impeding their ability to undertake longer-term financial planning.

"The Committee believes strongly that it is crucial for the health service to redesign the way it provides services. If this does not take place, the Trusts will find it difficult to provide the health and social care services needed, within their budgets."

The report also found that using large numbers of locum doctors has contributed to the Trusts increasing expenditure, particularly within the Western HSC Trust where difficulties in recruiting and retaining permanent consultants continues to put pressure on budgets.

Ms Boyle said: "While delays in all types of appointments can cause pain and distress for patients and families, it is deeply worrying that no hospital was able to ensure that 95% of patients began their first treatment of cancer within the 62 day standard. We are concerned that the percentage of patients seen within 14 days of an urgent referral for breast cancer has fallen from 84% in 2013-14 to 81% in 2014-15. The Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety needs to ensure that it can pinpoint why cancer waiting time targets are not being met and set out the action needed to meet these targets."

SDLP Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson Fearghal McKinney MLA said revelations of a £131 million Trust finance deficit should be deeply worrying for everyone.

Mr McKinney said: "Today's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report underscores what the SDLP has been saying consistently – that the health system needs to be redesigned to ease the health and financial pressures that have been piling up for years.

"The DUP has, in that time, consistently failed to implement a long term strategy resulting in huge health pressures and now thanks to the PAC's investigation, worrying revelations of massive Trust debt.

"While the two big parties have been patting themselves on the back over reaching a budget, patients continue to suffer and now according to the PAC unless there is radical change, Trusts may find it difficult to provide future services within their budgets.

"All of this would have been potentially forgivable if there hadn't been stark warnings. But there had been and the Trusts, the HSCB, the Department and the Ministers have all failed to heed what Transforming Your Care said: 'failure to plan would lead to haphazard change'."

(CD)