RCN comments on Audit Commission NHS report

Published: 20 September 2012

The Royal College of Nursing has commented on the Audit Commission report on the NHS Financial year.

Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, said: “The NHS is tasked with saving £20 billion in England alone, and NHS hospitals and organisations are dealing with this reality on a daily basis. Patients will question why as many as 61,000 posts are at risk in the NHS when there is an overall surplus of £1.6 billion. To date, we have not seen evidence that this surplus is being reinvested into patient care, and a rigorous analysis of NHS finances is now needed.

“We are also concerned that for those trusts who are running up huge deficits, often due to badly negotiated PFI deals, it can appear tempting to reduce expenditure by thoughtless reductions in staff and services. Instead, they need to focus on keeping patients healthy. Nurses, like patients, will be anxious to avoid a situation where trusts run up enormous deficits which then lead to a crisis in patient care.”

Read the report on the Audit Commission website.