On target for £19m savings

NHS OLDHAM LOCALITY BOARD
NHS Oldham is on target to make almost £19 million of savings this year.

Four months into the financial year, savings stand at £5.5 million, but Steve Sutcliffe, executive director of finance, warned there was still a significant risk that the target could be missed.

The organisation is in the process of a four-year plan to cut spending by £49 million by March, 2014.

Board member Dr Hugh Sturgess said: “It’s important to realise that savings are not cutbacks.

“It’s about effective use of NHS resources, avoiding inappropriate hospital admissions and providing quality care for people at home.

”Over time, quite rightly, there will be a lot of reduction in the number of hospital beds, but as we face the challenges of an ageing population, reducing reliance on secondary care intervention has to be the right direction.”


Going private to hit 18-week limit
A £6 million drive to treat patients within 18 weeks of being referred by their GP has been launched by Pennine Acute Trust, which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital.

The deadline to hit the target, September 23, has forced the trust to pay out for some procedures to be carried out by independent, or non-NHS, providers.

Work has started to treat patients in private ophthalmology services in a bid to hit the target, but agreements have yet to be completed in general surgery and orthopaedics before the scheme can go ahead.

Penalties which could be imposed if the trust fails to meet the 18-week target could cost it around £1.5 million.