Press release: NHS Confederation responds to Department of Health Quarter 1 report

30 Aug 2007

Commenting on the Quarter 1 figures that the Department of Health has released today showing that the NHS has achieved a surplus of over £900m, Dr Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents over 95 per cent of NHS organisations, said:

"The NHS has come a long way financially in the last year - from net deficit to net surplus. This is a credit to the hard work of NHS organisations up and down the country who have done an excellent job turning around the fortunes of many individual trusts in financial difficulty. It is in the interest of patients and staff to have a financially stable NHS which can avoids the boom and bust of the past.

"It must however be remembered that an overall surplus does not mean that every organisation is in balance. A small minority of around six per cent of NHS organisations face very real financial challenges as they try to balance their income and expenditure.

"£983m actually represents around one per cent of the entire NHS budget. It is prudent to plan to deliver a small surplus as if you don't have money in the bank, you won't have the flexibility to respond to emergencies, take on challenges such as the 18 week target and develop new services which offer benefits to patients. The NHS has always wanted to have this capacity and control, but past financial constraints have made it difficult.

"The NHS is a very complex organisation. A small surplus or deficit of one per cent either way would be deemed sensible in many other organisations and industries, yet the NHS often finds itself criticised for not ending each quarter exactly on budget."

Notes for editors

The NHS Confederation represents more than 95% 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.

Contact details

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