Press release: NHS Confederation respond to Audit Commission report on learning from financial failure
11 Jul 2006
Dr Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents over 90 per cent of NHS organisations, said:
"It is all too easy to blame NHS managers for the current deficits. But we must take care to look at the whole picture and not make NHS managers the scapegoat for financial problems facing a small minority of trusts. As today's report published by the Audit Commission recognises, financial problems in the NHS are the result of many factors.
"Deficits are in part the result of short-term pressures on the service including national targets and workforce reforms. Longer-term issues, such as major structural problems, exposed by changes to accountancy rules, are also to blame. The minority of trusts with deficits are taking action to re-balance the books and plan for the future.
"It is also important to acknowledge that the report refers to just 25 out of 556 trusts in England and is based on data gathered two years ago. Nonetheless is a helpful document as it provides crucial lessons in financial management. We need to learn from the past and reports like today's help us to do just that.
"That is why NHS managers are working hard to deliver real improvements in patient care within their financial means - waiting times are down and patient satisfaction rates are high. Just over six weeks ago the Healthcare Commission reported that 92 per cent of hospital patients found their treatment good, very good or excellent - the highest ever satisfaction levels."
Ends
Notes for editors
1. The NHS Confederation represents more than 90 per cent of the organisations that make up the NHS. Its members include the majority of NHS acute trusts, ambulance trusts, foundation trusts, mental health trusts, primary care trusts, special health authorities and strategic health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; and health and social service trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.
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