Boris Johnson's 'short-term fixes' have failed to stabilise NHS finances, government watchdog warns
3 min read
Boris Johnson's "short-term fixes" have failed to stabilise NHS finances, according to the public spending watchdog.
The National Audit Office said NHS trusts have racked up "unsustainable" levels of debt after becoming reliant on loans from the Department of Health.
In August, Boris Johnson unveiled a £1.8bn cash boost for the health service to upgrade 20 hospitals as well as help clear a maintenance backlog across NHS properties in England.
But according to the NAO report on NHS financial management, cash-strapped trusts are increasingly being forced to make "one-off savings" to meet their budgets or apply for "short-term loans" which were "being treated as income... and which they have no ability to ever repay".
Analysis by the group found NHS provider trusts have reported a combined defecit of around £827m while clinical commissioning groups faced a £150m deficit in their balance for the 2018/2019 financial year.
But the study also warned the cash injections had created "volatility and variability" between trusts, leading to longer waiting times and a growing number of patients waiting for treatment.
And they said short-term funding decisions by the Department of Health had resulted in resources moving away from longer-term priorities, such as the workforce or public health initiatives.
Responding to the report, Labour MP Meg Hillier, who chairs the influential Public Accounts Committee said the figures proved the health service had become "addicted to unacceptable short-term fixes to cover the fact it is not tackling long-standing issues".
She added: "Hospitals have built up loans they'll never repay, workforce shortages continue and waiting times are getting longer. There is no long-term plan for social care in sight, but what is clear is the lack of investment in public health, equipment and buildings.
"It is the start of a new Parliament and the Department needs to urgently get a grip and wisely use the new money it's being given."
'Maintenance backlog'
Meanwhile, a second NAO report found NHS providers had requested an average of £1.1bn in extra funding above their spending limits in order to source new equipment and deal with maintenance issues across the aging NHS estate.
According to the the report, 14% of current NHS buildings are older than when the health service was formed in 1948, while the maintenance backlog across England has grown to around £6.5bn.
And it warned that around £1.1bn was required to fix "high-risk" maintenance issues which were putting patients at risk of harm.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: "The short-term fixed that were introduced to manage the NHS' finances are not sustainable. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to provide some trusts with short-term loans just to meet their day-to-day costs with little hope they will be repaid.
"This is not a sustainable way to run public bodies."
He added: "To bring about lasting stability, the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement need to move away from short-term financial fixes and provide longer-term solutions".
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are enshrining in law our record cash boost for the NHS, worth £33.9bn extra a year by 2023-24."
But Labour jumped on the report to accuse ministers of failing to "full fund our NHS and social care".
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "This is yet another damning report which shows that ten years of Conservative under-funding and under-resourcing is damaging the NHS, leaving trusts in the red and CCGs unable to balance the books."
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