Resource Shortfall Sources to 2006

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This is the archive to 2006. For more recent material see:

Resource Shortfall/Sources

NHS 'cannot keep up with progress on cancer research.' 'Increased spending is the cure.' Early diagnosis still the key to survival. The Times, 21 October 1999.

Blair's cancer pledge holds up therapy. The Observer, 5 December 1999

Summary of reports in The Guardian, March 2000 about extra resources and need to change working practices in the NHS.

Our girl could die for lack of the right chair, say couple, Daily Mail, 3 April, 2000.

We need staff more than pay, say nurses, Daily Mail, 3 April, 2000.

Health rationing. Bitter pills to swallow, Guardian, 19 April 2000

Health rationing. Weighting game. What do patients' organisations think of Nice's track record and potential? Three chief executive officers air their mixed feelings, Guardian, 19 April 2000

The health secretary, Alan Milburn, will insist that private nursing homes do far more than they now do to help elderly patients get better before he allows NHS managers to use the private sector to ease the hospital beds crisis. . Guardian, 2 May 2000

An increasing number of women are having babies at home without medical supervision because of the acute shortage of midwives. Some are giving birth with nobody else present at all, because of a law that bans anyone not medically qualified, including the father, from attending. . Guardian, 7 May 2000

The government's cash injection has solved the NHS funding crisis. Or has it? Steve Brown looks at the figures that reveal a different story. . Guardian, 10 May 2000

The Department of Health has confirmed that it is considering the option of using spare capacity in private nursing homes in order to free-up acute NHS capacity and solve the problem of so-called "blocked beds" - for which, read "beds occupied by elderly people". . Guardian, 10 May 2000

Those of us who treat cancer feel diminished and often angered by a system in which we must beg for cash . Guardian, 26 May 2000.

Cost could scupper plans to disclose medical data. Guardian 18 August 2000.

The government's NHS plan has promised us thousands more health professionals, not only to overcome staff shortages faced in many areas but also to expand provision through extra hospital and intermediate care beds, GP surgeries and nurse-led, walk-in centres. All of this is excellent news. But there is one small problem. All the extra money and all the promises on paper will make no difference unless thousands of willing people decide to work for the NHS. Rabbi Julia Neuberger , Guardian 27 September 2000.

Nearly a third of all nurses are moonlighting in other jobs to make ends meet, according to a report published yesterday. The survey, by the health union Unison, found that the proportion with a second job had increased sharply over the last year. Half the moonlighters were shifting as nurses within the NHS, while others were boosting their income in private hospitals or in non-medical work. The survey also found that nearly eight out of 10 nurses have considered leaving their job and 52% are serious about leaving - up 2% on a year ago. The most common reasons given were feeling undervalued and being poorly paid. Non-registered nurses were more likely to consider leaving because of pay grievances, encouraging the union to demand bigger increases for the lowest paid. Guardian 5 October 2000.

Tony Blair last night appealed to nursing leaders not to play into the hands of those who want to scrap the health service and to "show solidarity" during any winter crisis, as he admitted underinvesting in the NHS for his first three years in power. Guardian 11 November 2000.

Doctors' leaders warned yesterday that the medical profession was falling into a state of "clinical depression" as it struggled to provide proper care for patients in an overstretched NHS. The BMA published results of a Mori opinion poll showing the proportion of the general public satisfied with the NHS fell from 72% in January 1998 to 58% last month. When asked who or what was most responsible for the current state of affairs, 44% of the unprompted replies referred unspecifically to "the government", 20% to "the Conservative government", 11% to "the Labour government", 16% to NHS managers, and 2% to doctors. Dr Bogle said: "The message from the public is clear. Despite increased spending on the NHS, politicians in this government and the last have failed to fulfil the public's expectations. Guardian 8 December 2000.

The government's modernisation agenda for the NHS is not achievable within the current timetable unless resources and staffing are increased, say finance directors. Health Service Journal round-up Publication date: April 5 Guardian Society Friday April 6, 2001

£30m cash boost for psychiatric wards Guardian Society Saturday April 7, 2001

Health Service Journal round-up Publication date: May 3 Health service managers overwhelmingly back Labour policy, but morale is plummeting because they believe there is insufficient money to achieve NHS plan reform, according to a survey by HSJ and the Kings Fund. Nearly 50% of managers said Labour had the best health policies, while over two-thirds said they did not believe the government had allocated enough money. Guardian Society Wednesday May 9, 2001

Universities lack resources to train new doctors Guardian Unlimited Tuesday May 22, 2001

Analysis: NHS recruitment Search for staff to fulfil health pledges John Carvel reports on research specially commissioned by the Guardian from the King's Fund - the authoritative health service thinktank Guardian Wednesday May 23, 2001

Doctor jailed over £4m NHS fraud Guardian Society Friday May 25, 2001

Some alternative advice on funding public services Guardian Letters Monday June 11, 2001

Government attacked over NHS 'north-south divide' David Batty Guardian Society Tuesday September 4, 2001

Post-PFI trust cuts staff to balance budget Guardian Society Friday September 7, 2001 [Scotland]

'More money is not the only solution'. The Observer NHS debate. Observer Sunday October 14, 2001

Tony Blair is wrong to state that spending could be upped in 2004 (Blair hints at tax rises, October 17). NHS spending needs to be improved now. I only realised how bad the NHS is when my wife, diagnosed with a positive smear test and, despairing of the wait she would have, promptly booked an airline ticket to her home country of Slovakia, where treatment is much quicker. Guardian Thursday October 18, 2001

We can save the NHS - if we're ready to pay for it. A dedicated health tax could, alongside reform, can give the NHS a new lease of life. The Observer NHS debate. Observer Sunday October 21, 2001

Mental health investments must be ringfenced Patrick Butler Guardian Society Wednesday November 7, 2001

Extra billions hardly make dent in number of hospital patients treated. Guardian Saturday November 10, 2001

More cash needed for NHS, Blair admits Patrick Butler Guardian Society. Wednesday November 14, 2001

Meningitis boy's 100 mile bed hunt. Rebecca Allison Guardian Tuesday December 4, 2001

Heart patients 'guinea pigs' in health drive Blair throws weight behind plan to offer private or overseas surgery. John Carvel and Michael White Guardian Unlimited Friday December 7, 2001

Top cancer centre 'little more than slum' Four senior doctors leave unit afflicted by lack of resources and years of underspending. Kirsty Scott Guardian Saturday December 8, 2001

Critical. Can we resuscitate? We can't save the NHS just by throwing money at it, writes Simon Caulkin. Guardian Unlimited Sunday December 9, 2001

NHS 'needs 6,500 extra consultants.' Guardian Society Thursday December 20, 2001

NHS reform 'needs more cash'. Guardian Society Thursday January 10, 2002

NHS trust head's email warning on beds shortage. Guardian Saturday January 12, 2002

Hospitals told to make £60m savings. Guardian Society Tuesday January 22, 2002

NHS chief rebuked over call for cuts. Milburn disowns demand for £60m savings in nine weeks. John Carvel, social affairs editor Guardian Wednesday January 23, 2002

Q&A: NHS overspend A leaked memo suggests the NHS in the south-east of England is overspent, and that trusts must make savings of £60m by the end of the financial year. What caused the health service to go into the red, and what will happen as a result? Patrick Butler Guardian Society Tuesday January 22, 2002

Transmission of HIV will rise, and ignorance of the virus will worsen, as a result of the government's intention to scrap dedicated funding for local prevention work, Aids groups are warning. Guardian Wednesday February 6, 2002
Anger as Government considers using rural retreats to alleviate winter healthcare crisis. Paul Harris Observer Sunday February 10, 2002

Waiting lists defy NHS billions. Guardian Society Saturday February 16, 2002

Healthy living centres (HLCs), the government's national lottery-funded initiative aimed at improving the health of people in deprived areas, are facing potentially acute staff shortages. Guardian Society Wednesday March 6, 2002

Hospitals siphon off cancer cash NHS trusts are using extra millions to meet targets on non-essential services, writes Anthony Browne. Observer Sunday March 17, 2002

Cancer care millions unaccounted for. Sarah Boseley, health editor Guardian Thursday March 21, 2002

Can we afford the cure? Hopes are high that a new generation of drugs could combat cancer. But their cost could be prohibitive, says Jerome Burne. Guardian Thursday March 21, 2002

Health reforms threatened by inherited debt. Patrick Butler Guardian Society Tuesday March 26, 2002

"Should we ration NHS treatment for less urgent conditions?" Paul Edwards, 49, is a consultant general surgeon at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England. Since qualifying in 1977 from the University of Cambridge, he has seen much change in hospitals. He talks here about some of the elements that have most affected his day to day surgical work. Guardian Society Tuesday April 2, 2002

"The NHS could become a monetary black hole." Paul Edwards, 49, is a consultant general surgeon at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England. Since qualifying in 1977 from the University of Cambridge, he has seen much change in hospitals. In the second of two articles, he expresses concern about costs and shortages in hospital staffing, and the money spent on successive NHS reorganisations. Guardian Society Tuesday April 2, 2002

Extra cash fails to cut waiting lists. John Carvel Guardian Saturday April 6, 2002

'The ward can go for a month without a delivery of basic supplies. Enter, the scrounging mission' The writer, whose name has been withheld, is a nurse in a large hospital trust in England. Society Tuesday April 9, 2002
Missed target. New funds for mental health 'hijacked'. David Brindle Guardian Wednesday June 5, 2002
Hospital waiting list rises by 22,700 despite extra cash for NHS. John Carvel, social affairs editor Guardian Saturday June 8, 2002
Lack of hospital services puts patients at risk. Doctors' report highlights lack of facilities at local level. James Meikle, health correspondent Thursday June 27, 2002 The Guardian
'There are simply not enough NHS beds and nurses'. At John Radcliffe hospital's casualty department in Oxford, staff members Dawn Chambers, Richard Pullinger and John Taylor protest at A&E being blamed for long trolley waits. Guardian Thursday June 27, 2002
The government is putting large sums of new money into cancer services: £255m last year, £407m this year and £570m next year. But cancer centres and district hospital cancer units around the country say they have not seen much of the promised extra cash. Sarah Boseley Guardian Tuesday August 6, 2002
Rise in numbers waiting for hospital appointments. Society Friday August 9, 2002
Patients in NHS hospitals are dying unnecessarily because of unbearable pressure on over-worked nurses, according to the leader of Britain's nurses. Tracy McVeigh Observer Sunday August 11, 2002
Scores of out-of-date anaesthetic machines are still in use in the NHS despite new safety guidelines issued after the death of a young child, ministers have admitted. Monday August 19, 2002 The Guardian
One of the first four care trusts, which provide integrated health and social services, has introduced rationing of care home placements in a bid to cut a £1.9m budget deficit . David Batty Wednesday October 23, 2002 The Guardian
Elderly and disabled care 'faces funding crisis'. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday November 13, 2002 The Guardian
Half the cancer units in the country have not received the extra cash that the government pledged would go to the front line of the war against the disease, according to an authoritative survey. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday November 20, 2002 The Guardian
Pathology labs 'face cash and recruitment crisis'. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday November 20, 2002 The Guardian
A consultant surgeon yesterday denied making threats to retaliate against anyone who reported that he threw a dessert spoon at a nurse after being given it to use in a hip replacement operation. Rebecca Allison Friday February 21, 2003 The Guardian [Derriford Hospital, Plymouth]
The UK's leading cancer charity today warned that the quality of cancer care was being undermined by staff shortages and the poor availability of the most effective treatments. David Batty Friday March 7, 2003
Tony Blair and the health secretary, Alan Milburn, are bracing themselves for a frank report today from the semi-independent NHS modernisation board, warning that the NHS still lacks staff, capacity and beds to meet key targets set by the government in its 10-year plan. Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent Monday March 10, 2003 The Guardian
An ambulance service has been left with debts of £10m because of problems with a staffing agency it helped run, the audit commission said today. Tuesday March 18, 2003 [West Yorkshire]
Some of Britain's leading hospitals are labouring under multi-million pound deficits because of soaring demand for drugs and the need to employ thousands of agency nurses at rates three times those paid to health service staff. Kamal Ahmed, political editor Sunday March 23, 2003 The Observer
Family doctors face budget problems because guidelines aimed at improving the treatment of patients are causing prescription costs to rise to record levels, outstripping increases in primary care funding, the audit commission said today. Thursday March 27, 2003
NHS no better for extra cash, say doctors. John Carvel, social affairs editor Monday April 14, 2003 The Guardian
Hospital doctors are being forced to slash the time they spend on individual patients - sometimes to less than three minutes - as managers resort to 'stopwatch' techniques to deliver the Government's stringent NHS targets. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday April 20, 2003 The Observer
In the year since the Guardian began to scrutinise public services in Enfield, the patients wending their anxious way past the old clock tower of Chase Farm hospital, which in 2001 was one of a handful that failed to score in the government's star ratings, have not noticed any substantial improvement. Sarah Boseley Monday April 21, 2003 The Guardian
The government has axed a scheme to save up to £500m a year in NHS administration costs because it clashes with Tony Blair's controversial plan to give all hospitals foundation status within five years. John Carvel and Nicholas Watt Monday May 5, 2003 The Guardian
Investigators called in as trust admits £44m overspend. Simon Parker Thursday May 8, 2003
Q&A: Bristol hospital overspend. The North Bristol NHS trust has run up a £44m deficit. How did it manage it and how will it affect patients and staff? Tash Shifrin reports. Thursday May 8, 2003
An emergency review of the finances of a Bristol hospital trust has been ordered, following revelations that it overspent by £44m in the last financial year. Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday May 9, 2003 The Guardian
Patients are being told that they will be put on waiting lists for chemotherapy, because of a funding crisis at one of Europe's leading cancer treatment hospitals. Helen Carter Thursday May 15, 2003 The Guardian [Christie Hospital, Manchester]
Plans to provide safer blood clotting treatments for more than 4,000 patients with haemophilia within three years are threatened because of a shortage of funds. James Meikle, health correspondent Monday May 19, 2003 The Guardian
For years, the Bristol needle exchange has been funded by the local NHS. Then Whitehall accountants decided to impose "special measures" on the new primary care trust because it had inherited debts from the old Avon health authority. Nick Davies Thursday May 22, 2003 The Guardian
Around £80m pledged to fund improvements to NHS cancer care was diverted into other services and did not reach the patients for whom it was intended, it emerged today. Thursday May 22, 2003
Cancer patients at Manchester's Christie hospital have been saved from the prospect of waiting lists for chemotherapy, after a last-minute meeting produced a cash lifeline. Faisal al Yafai Friday May 23, 2003 The Guardian
The riddle of missing cancer funds, promised by the Department of Health but absent from the budgets of frontline doctors, was solved yesterday when the government's cancer tsar revealed that some cash-strapped hospitals had ploughed the money into other facilities. Sarah Boseley, health editor Friday May 23, 2003 The Guardian
See the Cancer section of the Department of Health website.
London: A five-month wait for surgery. Sunday May 25, 2003 The Observer
There were more people on waiting lists at 53 hospital trusts in England this year than there were in 2000, the Conservative party claimed today. Tuesday May 27, 2003
Hospital staff shortages are causing people with cancer and other patients to wait months for scans or radiotherapy treatment, a survey has found. James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday May 27, 2003 The Guardian
Government plans to shift care from hospitals to the community are foundering because cash is being swallowed up by acute services priorities, according to an investigation by GPs. Patrick Butler Tuesday June 3, 2003

While the south-west's primary care trusts are suffering from inherited debts and managerial pressures, Patrick Butler discovers they can still make a huge change to how the region's healthcare system is developed. Wednesday June 4, 2003 The Guardian

No sooner have primary care trusts got the financial security they longed for than they face another NHS upheaval. David Walker Wednesday June 11, 2003 The Guardian

Readers' letters Wednesday June 25, 2003 The Guardian

Mental health services in Berkshire are to suffer swingeing cuts on a scale not seen for a decade or more. Entire services face the axe over coming weeks as the NHS trust involved struggles to comply with an order to save £7m - about 8% of its budget. David Brindle Wednesday June 25, 2003 The Guardian

Cut to the bone. Readers' letters Wednesday July 2, 2003 The Guardian

Doctors' leaders admitted yesterday that the NHS was so unprepared for the recent international outbreak of the Sars infection that it gave GPs urgent advice to buy protective masks and gloves from the nearest branch of B&Q. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday July 2, 2003 The Guardian

A prison dentist pulled out inmates' healthy teeth to make money from the NHS, Wolverhampton crown court heard yesterday. Tuesday July 8, 2003 The Guardian

A local authority is planning to lend £8m to its local NHS organisations, using new financial flexibilities in the first move of its kind. Cornwall county council, a top-performing authority, aims to make the loan to bail out community health services that face drastic cuts. Linda Jackson Wednesday July 23, 2003 The Guardian

Most mental health trusts in England are wrestling with deficits they ran up last year, according to research findings to be published tomorrow. Some trusts began the current financial year millions of pounds in the red. David Brindle Wednesday July 23, 2003 The Guardian

Hospitals will be required to check the immigration status of "suspicious" patients under a crackdown on foreigners getting free NHS operations that is due to be announced today by John Hutton, the health minister. John Carvel and Patrick Wintour Tuesday July 29, 2003 The Guardian

Patients going for routine treatment at NHS hospitals in England will have to present a gas bill, passport or other proof of identity to prove eligibility for free care, John Hutton, the health minister, said yesterday. John Carvel Wednesday July 30, 2003 The Guardian

Millions of pounds intended for services for people with learning disabilities has been spent on other things by cash-strapped strategic health authorities (SHAs). David Brindle Wednesday July 30, 2003 The Guardian

All asylum seekers who fail to register with the government should be deprived of access to British schools and hospitals, the former cabinet minister Stephen Byers said yesterday in a controversial speech designed to reassure working class voters that Labour understood their concerns about immigration. Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent Thursday July 31, 2003 The Guardian

Proposals to allow thousands of couples free fertility treatment on the NHS were the subject of a growing political row last night, amid concern about how the extra treatments would be funded. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday August 10, 2003 The Observer

Health services in Greater Manchester will face a funding shortfall of more than £700m unless urgent action is taken, it was claimed yesterday. Helen Carter Friday September 5, 2003 The Guardian

A new drug gives hope of longer life to women with breast cancer... if only they could get it. Jo Revill Sunday September 28, 2003 The Observer

The results of an inquiry into how North Bristol NHS trust ran up a £44m deficit will be published today, four months after it was originally due. Tash Shifrin Thursday October 2, 2003

NHS trust overspent by £44m 'to meet targets'. Tash Shifrin Thursday October 2, 2003

A huge overspend at an NHS trust has been blamed on management failures. Tash Shifrin finds it could happen elsewhere. Wednesday October 8, 2003 The Guardian

The cost of compensating thousands of sick and elderly people who have been denied NHS funding for their healthcare in nursing homes will reach nearly £600 million, a new survey reveals. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday October 12, 2003 The Observer

The government was urged to ringfence money intended for cancer treatment yesterday as the health secretary, John Reid, announced an investigation into why patients in some areas can get expensive cancer drugs while others go without. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday October 29, 2003 The Guardian

Scientists yesterday called for an extra £100m a year to reverse the collapse of clinical research in the National Health Service and to test new and sophisticated ways of treating a growing range of diseases. Tim Radford, science editor Friday October 31, 2003 The Guardian

The government's claim to be giving priority to improving mental health services is put in doubt today by research showing that they are not getting their fair share of NHS resources. John Carvel, social affairs editor Monday November 10, 2003 The Guardian

Walk-in unit a godsend to those with no GP. With its new drop-in unit and extra GPs Enfield is tackling its primary care crisis. Sarah Boseley and John Carvel Monday November 17, 2003 The Guardian

Doctors have warned that £14m of government funding supposedly ringfenced for critical care has been lost in the system, with a bed shortage looming this winter. Wednesday November 26, 2003

The cost of drugs prescribed under the NHS has risen from £4.9bn in the financial year 1999-2000, to £7.13bn in the year ended in April, a 50% rise. Jenny Booth Thursday December 4, 2003 The Guardian

Patients with life-threatening lung problems are being denied vital treatment due to a lack of equipment in hospitals, experts claimed today. Roxanne Escobales and agencies Thursday December 4, 2003

There are many good ideas which could improve treatments for seriously ill patients, but no money to fund their development, Colin Blakemore, the head of the Medical Research Council will tell MPs today. Polly Curtis Monday December 8, 2003

A crisis-hit mental health trust has withdrawn up to £2m of cuts and dropped plans to close a care ward for elderly people, after staff threatened to strike, but unions have declared a formal dispute over high risk levels. Tash Shifrin Friday December 19, 2003

A government minister was accused yesterday of invoking privacy laws to cover up consultant shortages in accident and emergency departments in hospitals across England. David Hencke Friday December 19, 2003 The Guardian

A chronic shortage of midwives is forcing the closure of small childbirth centres across Britain, with pregnant women having to travel 20 miles or more to the nearest maternity unit. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday December 28, 2003 The Observer

Medical care for patients with the fatal lung disorder cystic fibrosis will be slashed this year because funding is being diverted to find lucrative cures for diseases such as cancer, a leading charity has warned. Ian Sample, science correspondent Thursday January 22, 2004 The Guardian

NHS trusts must find extra cash to pay for the government's ambitious electronic patient record system, a report claimed today. Tuesday January 27, 2004

Extra spending on the NHS has not stopped many trusts slipping into the red as they struggle to meet increasing claims on resources. That will fuel nervousness about reform, says Peter Davies. Thursday February 5, 2004

Heart attack patients are blocking beds by being kept in hospital far longer than necessary, researchers said today. Friday February 13, 2004

The cost of treating an "insidious and deadly" heart condition is placing a substantial burden on the NHS which will only increase in the coming years, according to new research published in the medical journal Heart. Tuesday February 17, 2004

Infertile couples to get just 'one shot' at IVF treatment. Gaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondent Sunday February 22, 2004 The Observer

All infertile couples where the woman is under 40 will be offered at least one full cycle of IVF treatment on the NHS from April next year, as the first stage towards making fertility services a more integral part of the state health system. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday February 25, 2004 The Guardian

Doctors see an alcoholic a day - but there's no more cash to help. Jamie Doward and Jo Revill Sunday February 29, 2004 The Observer

Services for critically ill newborn babies are severely stretched and are putting some infants at risk, doctors warned today. Doctors at Leeds general infirmary (LGI) have said that intensive care facilities for newborn babies are understaffed and lack sufficient specialist cots. Their research, published today in the medical journal the Archives of Disease and Childhood, warned that the situation could further deteriorate when new rules restricting junior doctors' working hours come into force in August. Thursday April 22, 2004

Parliament's spending watchdog warned today that 71 NHS trusts in England went into the red last year, chalking up deficits worth more than £200m in breach of an obligation to break even. Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, said he was concerned that the large deficits incurred by some NHS bodies might put at risk the financial stability of the health service. The worst of the overspends was in North Bristol NHS trust where "poor financial management and ineffective corporate governance procedures" caused a £44.6m overspend in 2002-03 - the largest recorded by an NHS organisation. The deficits came as extra resources were flooding into the NHS and ministers stepped up pressure to expand the service and reduce waiting times. The NHS budget in England rose from £47bn in 2001-02 to £53.5bn in 2002-03. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday April 28, 2004 The Guardian

Birth choices fall foul of staff shortages. As NHS guidelines urge a cut in the number of elective caesarean sections, a busy hospital ward has no room for those 'too posh to push'. Sandra Laville Saturday May 1, 2004 The Guardian

The mental health report published by the Social Exclusion Unit (The gloves come off, June 23), represents a real achievement in terms of recognising the hurdles faced by people with mental health problems and suggesting ways to address them. However, Mind is concerned about the commitment implied by the announcement of such scant resources for anti-stigma programmes. Letter Wednesday June 30, 2004 The Guardian

Blink and you miss the references to mental health in the government's new NHS improvement plan. Yet buried deep within it are World Health Organisation figures suggesting that, in Europe, mental illness is the second biggest cause of death and ill-health - just behind heart disease and way ahead of cancer. David Brindle Wednesday July 14, 2004 The Guardian

There are not enough public health specialists to deliver the targets to tackle obesity, smoking and the health gap between the rich and poor outlined in Gordon Brown's spending review, experts have warned. Tash Shifrin Thursday July 15, 2004

Thousands of patients facing routine surgery could have their operations cancelled under a national plan to protect the blood supply during shortages. Hospitals have been told to draw up lists of procedures that might be delayed in an attempt to ensure transfusions could continue for those whose life was threatened by accidents, heart disease and organ failure. Officials at the Department of Health and National Blood Service have warned that uniform arrangements are needed across England and north Wales to ensure that blood remains available to those who most need it. Monday August 2, 2004 The Guardian

Five hundred hospital jobs are to go in two hospital trusts whose bids for foundation status were thwarted last month. Southampton University hospitals trust and Winchester and Eastleigh healthcare trust both applied to be in the autumn wave of foundation trusts, alongside 32 other trusts. Hélène Mulholland Thursday August 5, 2004

Hundreds more A&E doctors needed. Trolley waits slashed, but service is years away from filling all posts. James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday October 26, 2004 The Guardian

Improvements in cancer care are being hampered by the way services are funded, a Commons committee says today. A report by the science and technology select committee says the government's policy of handing NHS cash to local primary care trusts (PCTs) causes problems when it comes to cancer services. The trusts have to share out the available money between hospital and GP services and may not want to spend large sums on cancer which affects relatively fewer people in each area than heart disease or diabetes. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday October 27, 2004 The Guardian

One of the government's most successful initiatives to help older people is in danger of disintegrating as the NHS shifts resources into a private sector scheme promoted by a former adviser to Tony Blair, a senior Department of Health official warned yesterday. Ian Philp, the older people's tsar, said the £1.4bn programme to support such patients after an operation had dramatically reduced the number of so-called bedblockers, people who have to stay in hospital longer than is medically necessary. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday October 29, 2004 The Guardian

The health secretary, John Reid, today warned hospital trusts that the government is no longer prepared to routinely bail them out if they fall into the red. He told the health committee's public expenditure inquiry that local trusts had a responsibility to run services for local people, but they also had a responsibility to the tax payer. He said that in the past, the way the government gave money to NHS trusts "lacked some of the rigour that would have been expected". Wednesday November 3, 2004

A financial crisis at one of the government's flagship foundation hospitals escalated yesterday when the independent regulator warned that its expected deficit has trebled over the past month to £11.3m. William Moyes, the chairman of Monitor, the foundation trusts' regulatory body, said Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS trust hushed up its financial difficulties for four months until he found out about them in a routine accounting exercise in August. John Carvel, social affairs editor Saturday November 27, 2004 The Guardian

NHS trusts in England fear a £224m deficit by the end of the financial year, according to a survey published today. Debbie Andalo Thursday January 6, 2005

A chronic understaffing of specialist heart units is damaging patient care and threatening a key government health target to tackle heart disease, according to a report published today. Some 80% of cardiac rehabilitation units failed to meet nationally agreed staffing levels, said the report by the Coronary Prevention Group - a charity led by doctors and other clinicians devoted to preventing heart disease. Debbie Andalo and agencies Thursday February 3, 2005

Hospitals are suffering from a growing shortage of neurologists, with some patients waiting more than a week in hospital with potentially life-threatening conditions before they are seen. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday February 6, 2005 The Observer

An influential thinktank has warned that the 8.1% increase in funding for local health services announced today by the health secretary, John Reid, may not be as generous as it first appears. The King's Fund predicts that most of the £135bn being given to primary care trusts, the organisations which run local health services, will be eaten up by their commitments to NHS staff pay increases brought in through the new Agenda for Change deal and new contracts for GPs and hospital doctors. Wednesday February 9, 2005

A £30m rescue plan to correct persistent failings of management at England's most troubled NHS trust was approved by the government yesterday. The money will be used to fund a five-year recovery plan, identify doctors with poor clinical results and stop feuding between rival departments at the trust's hospitals in Pontefract, Wakefield and Dewsbury. John Carvel Friday February 18, 2005 The Guardian

The NHS is heading for a financial crisis in the run-up to the general election, according to forecasts from health authorities in England showing a black hole in this year's accounts. The 28 strategic health authorities are reporting a current deficit of £554m. Although part of this may be trimmed by using creative accountancy and short-term economising, finance directors think they will be left with a shortfall of £341m by the end of the financial year on March 31. John Carvel Thursday March 3, 2005 The Guardian

Great Ormond Street Hospital in London has had to close up to one-fifth of its its beds, cancel operations and turn away dozens of critically ill children because of the severe financial problems it faces. The news that the world-famous children's hospital is having to close its doors to patients will highlight the serious cost pressures on the NHS and re-ignite the political debate over where the extra billions of pounds earmarked for hospitals has been spent. Jo Revill and Gaby Hinsliff Sunday March 6, 2005 The Observer

Great Ormond Street is one of the wealthiest hospitals in the world. It is now in the middle of a multi-million pound redevelopment. Its fundraising campaigns are backed by celebrities and its old wards will be transformed within the next five years. Its pioneering care for sick children and authoritative expertise on anything from leukaemia to depression continues to win national and international acclaim. Yet despite all that the hospital doesn't have the money it needs to keep its beds open. The millions of pounds raised for the new development cannot be spent on daily running costs as the NHS does not allow such transfers of money. Many hospitals facing deficits would do as Great Ormond Street is - cancel operations, close beds and cut the nursing bill. They may not be so high profile, but every trust must balance its books. Great Ormond Street's deficit - £1.7 million - is tiny compared with the £184m spent each day on the NHS. But it must make itself as financially lean as possible to win the approval of the Health Secretary, John Reid, for it to become a foundation trust, cherished status that brings some independence. Jo Revill, health editor Sunday March 6, 2005 The Observer

A village doctor killed himself after becoming distressed over an investigation into the number of patients he was referring to hospital specialists, an inquest heard today. Dr Stephen Farley, 55, was visited at his practice in Ibstock, Leicestershire, by officers from his local primary care trust (PCT), who presented a bar chart comparing his rate of referrals with other GPs. He was also sent letters from Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT requesting that he retrain. Debbie Andalo and agencies Thursday March 10, 2005

The government today denied the NHS was in financial crisis after it emerged that almost a third of health trusts had deficits. Figures showed that nine hospital trusts ended the last financial year more than £10m in debt, 14 had deficits of more than £5m and another 39 owed more than £1m. The statistics, revealed in a Commons written answer, showed that almost a third of all trusts were in deficit, with the total standing at more than £350m. Friday March 18, 2005

The true scale of Britain's sexual health crisis is revealed today in a report showing that two-thirds of clinics are turning away patients because they cannot cope with demand for treatment. Jamie Doward, social affairs editor Sunday April 3, 2005 The Observer

NHS managers and clinicians have wasted no time in impressing on Patricia Hewitt the challenges that await her as the new health secretary. The NHS Confederation, which represents health service chief executives, has made clear that the former trade and industry secretary's number one priority must be continued extra investment beyond 2008. Tuesday May 10, 2005

If the call to cancel debt is an effective means of helping the third world, why confine the concept to overseas (Monks and nuns take their fight against poverty to Westminster, May 19)? The health trust in Shropshire has a £7m debt hanging round its neck. This can only be paid by the ruthless imposition of cuts in services to the very people to whom the money is owed, the taxpayers. Many trusts are in the same boat. Why not cancel all NHS debt and start again? Letter Friday May 20, 2005 The Guardian

NHS managers are wasting billions of pounds and do not deserve any more cash, the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, said yesterday. John Carvel, social affairs editor Saturday June 18, 2005 The Guardian

The NHS in England went £140m into the red last year and is in need of a big injection of financial expertise to avoid running out of control, public spending watchdogs warn today. After a joint investigation, the National Audit Office and the Audit Commission said many hospitals were ill-equipped to survive in the competitive healthcare market being set up by the government, allowing patients to choose between NHS trusts and private operators. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday June 24, 2005 The Guardian

Start with children. Leader Friday June 24, 2005 The Guardian

Ill-equipped to compete in the increasingly cut-throat healthcare market, the NHS is now £140m in the red. A government that has done everything it can to expand the role of the private sector in the NHS is unlikely to bail hospitals out this time, and so this deficit will translate into hundreds of lost beds, and ward closures up and down the country. Jacky Davis Monday June 27, 2005 The Guardian

Market forces. New book finds some things in the health service remain the same [Health Policy Reform - Driving the Wrong Way? by John Lister is published on July 5 by Middlesex University Press, price £25]. Tash Shifrin Wednesday June 29, 2005 The Guardian

The NHS is preparing to cut up to 1,260 jobs at its largest teaching hospital as part of a fresh round of cuts to avert a financial crisis in "overspending" trusts. Papers being submitted today to the board of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust propose a freeze on all recruitment for the next nine months to achieve a £12m reduction in the wage bill. Doctors, nurses and ancillary staff who retire or move to another hospital will not be replaced. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday July 7, 2005 The Guardian

Premature babies are being rushed more than 100 miles from where they were born to receive the specialist care they need to survive, a charity claimed yesterday. Efforts to save infants' lives are also being jeopardised by staffing levels that would not be tolerated in adult intensive care units, according to the charity Bliss. Painful medical interventions are also sometimes being carried out on very young babies without any pain relief. More than 70% of units claim to have closed to new admissions at least once in the last six months. James Meikle, health correspondent Thursday July 14, 2005

A third of NHS hospital trusts in England failed to balance their books last year, a crisis that could soon jeopardise patient care, the health inspectorate said last night. Nearly a quarter of the bodies responsible for services outside hospitals, including GPs, opticians and dentists, also showed a deficit despite big increases in public spending. Overspending in these trusts amounted to £499m, according to the Healthcare Commission. James Meikle, health correspondent Wednesday July 27, 2005 The Guardian

A London NHS trust has imposed an indefinite recruitment freeze on nursing and medical staff in order to balance its books, SocietyGuardian.co.uk has learned. St George's Healthcare NHS Trust was unable to comment on the duration of the freeze, which a trust insider claims has been set at three years. Hélène Mulholland Monday August 8, 2005

A growing number of trusts are likely to resort to a freeze on staff recruitment in the future to balance their books, according to NHS Employers, the pay negotiating arm of the NHS confederation. Hélène Mulholland Wednesday August 10, 2005

Debts built up by NHS trusts mean staff must be cut, and that is bound to have a detrimental effect on patient care, says Hélène Mulholland. Wednesday August 10, 2005

The budget problems of NHS trusts can be solved by increased efficiency, which need not compromise patient care, writes Gareth Goodier. Thursday August 11, 2005

Projected debts at an NHS trust have forced it to stop all non-urgent surgery at one of its hospitals and impose a recruitment freeze, it emerged today. The measures are part of a range of cutbacks at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS trust, which has hospitals in Crawley, Sussex and Redhill, Surrey. They were taken after the NHS chief executive, Nigel Crisp, wrote to the trust expressing alarm at its forecast deficit of £68m. Matt Weaver Wednesday August 31, 2005

The NHS is facing an autumn round of cutbacks and economies across England as trusts struggle to deliver "efficiency savings" worth at least £1.6bn to balance their books by the end of the financial year in March. Although the health service received a 7% increase in budgets this year, the money came with strings attached, requiring economies which are causing confusion among managers and doctors due to the complexity of NHS finance. John Carvel Social affairs editor Wednesday September 7, 2005 The Guardian

Ministers have ordered health service managers to tackle the spiralling debts of the NHS, which it emerged today were £250m in the last financial year. The final audited accounts of the NHS for April 2004-05 show that, for the first time in five years, the health service as a whole has gone into the red, with the deficit £110m more than the Department of Health (DoH) estimated just three months ago, the Financial Times reported today. David Batty Friday September 16, 2005

The chief executives of 156 NHS trusts were reprimanded yesterday for overspending when it emerged that the health service in England ended the last financial year with a deficit of £250m. The loss came in spite of record investment in the NHS and was much worse than the estimated £140m overspend reported to the National Audit Office three months ago. John Carvel, social affairs editor Saturday September 17, 2005 The Guardian

A HOSPITAL in Wolverhampton run by controversial health boss David Loughton is suffering from crippling debts. Cash-strapped Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust achieved just one out of three stars in the Healthcare Commission rating. New Cross Hospital would have achieved top rating in the latest health watchdog review but for the debts, according to bosses. Mr. Loughton, who was chief executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, resigned from Walsgrave Hospital in March 2002 after a vote of no confidence. His departure followed calls from seven MPs for him to leave and a vote of no confidence by 99 consultants. The Rugby Advertiser launched a well-supported campaign to see his resignation. During Mr. Loughton's ten year 'reign' over Walsgrave and Rugby's Hospital of St. Cross, the trust was criticised in a Commission for Health Improvement report for putting patients' lives at risk with unsafe practices. It also said doctors feared being victimised for voicing concerns. This report was swiftly followed by a zero-rating in the Government's star rating system. But Mr. Loughton sprung back to become chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS a year ago. Rugby Advertiser 22 September 2005

A London NHS trust is cutting 300 jobs on top of an indefinite recruitment freeze in a desperate bid to plug a multi-million pound deficit. Around 70 staff at St George's healthcare NHS trust face redundancy, with the remaining cuts expected to come from a reduction in the use of expensive agency staff. Hélène Mulholland Friday September 23, 2005

Fit to drop. Healthy living centres were at the heart of Labour's plan to improve public health in the poorest areas, and they have. So why do they face an uncertain future? David Conn reports. Wednesday September 28, 2005 The Guardian

The healthy living centre (HLC) programme (Fit to drop, September 28) represents a unique opportunity to learn lessons about ways of promoting local engagement in health and community-based activities. Findings suggest that in many areas HLCs are impacting on more than the health of local people. Many are supporting exactly the kind of community engagement encouraged by government. Failure to find funding for HLCs will mean not only that services are withdrawn but also that the expectations of local people who have invested time and energy in their development are frustrated. There remains a risk that closure of HLCs will create obstacles to be overcome in promoting local engagement in further initiatives. Dr Dione Hills, senior researcher, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. Guardian letters Wednesday October 5 2005

Spin over substance hurts NHS hardest. Letters Wednesday October 19, 2005 The Guardian

The government's NHS reforms will not work without safeguards to prevent hospitals going bankrupt, the regulator of foundation hospital trusts warned yesterday. John Carvel Wednesday October 19, 2005 The Guardian

The former banking boss who is leading a major review of care needs and spending today said the government was wrong to assume that current resources for adult social care were adequate. Ex-NatWest chief executive Sir Derek Wanless said the presumption about resources in this year's green paper on adult social care was either "wishful thinking" or an attempt to prevent costs rising. David Batty in Birmingham Friday October 21, 2005

Local birth centres are being threatened by staff shortages and a lack of funds, the National Childbirth Trust warns today. It is calling on the government to safeguard the future of birth centres after a series of closures. Mian Ridge Monday November 14, 2005 The Guardian

Patricia Hewitt has ordered a winter round of NHS cuts to eliminate the deficit of up to £700m being forecast this year by hospitals and NHS trusts across England. The Guardian has learned that the Department of Health is imposing a policy of zero tolerance to overspending on NHS trusts. The cuts will hit hospitals at the worst possible time of year as doctors and nurses come under extra pressure from patients affected by colder weather. In many areas, NHS managers will have to close wards and reduce staffing by leaving vacancies unfilled and cutting back on use of agency staff. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday November 17, 2005 The Guardian

The first evidence that financial problems in the NHS are forcing trusts to ration operations came yesterday with an announcement that overweight people in East Anglia will be denied replacement joints, even if they are in serious pain. East Suffolk primary care trusts said patients will no longer be considered for hip and knee replacements at Ipswich hospital if they have a body mass index of more than 30, the clinical definition of obesity. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday November 23, 2005 The Guardian

When it comes to learning disability, there's nothing like the personal touch, says David Brindle. What's troubling local authority chiefs? Council tax? Trust schools? Talking to a group of senior managers the other day, the first answer, surprisingly, was learning disability. The costs of providing services for learning disabled people are going through the roof. More than six in 10 English authorities expected to bust their learning disability budgets last year, the total overspend representing almost half a projected £100m deficit on social services as a whole. And the sums involved are truly destabilising: one manager reported that a disabled person new to their area needed services costing £288,000 a year. Wednesday November 23, 2005 The Guardian

The health secretary Patricia Hewitt yesterday ordered budgetary hit squads into the 50 highest overspending health authorities and trusts in England to halt an escalating financial crisis that threatens the stability of the NHS. In response to an application from the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, she released confidential returns forecasting a collective overspend of £623m by the end of the financial year. A quarter of all the country's trusts are forecasting deficits that total £948m. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday December 2, 2005 The Guardian

Hospitals are being forced to delay operations and introduce a go-slow in treatment because of the NHS's overspending crisis, the Guardian has learned. In London, Staffordshire and other areas forecasting big deficits, NHS commissioners are trying to save money by quietly instructing hospitals to delay non-emergency surgery until the start of the new financial year in April. John Carvel, social affairs editor Saturday December 3, 2005 The Guardian

Cash-strapped NHS trusts should delay operations until the new financial year in April to cut down their financial deficits, the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, told MPs yesterday. In a robust defence of her policy of zero tolerance of overspending, she said it was better for hospitals to cancel operations and leave capacity idle than for local NHS commissioners to run deficits, forecast last week to reach £948m across England by the end of March. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday December 7, 2005 The Guardian

A group of 27 consultant psychiatrists at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge warned yesterday that the government's squeeze on NHS deficits will put patients at risk of suicide and may lead to violent attacks in the community. Criticising the decision by the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, to crack down on deficits in the NHS, they said Cambridge and Peterborough mental health trust is being forced to make a £2m cut in services to bail out other NHS organisations. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday December 8, 2005 The Guardian

The huge rise in the number of older people in the UK over the next 30 years will place a great strain on the NHS, researchers warned today. The estimated 53% increase in over 65s between 2001 and 2031 will increase both financial and workload pressures on the health service with more demand for treatment for chronic conditions such as heart disease, according to healthcare researchers Dr Foster. Friday December 9, 2005

The financial crisis gripping the NHS has been laid bare in an extraordinary email sent from a senior civil servant in the Department of Health, which tells officials to ignore ministers' promises on spending. It also threatens staff with disciplinary action if they disobey an order to freeze new investment. The email - details of which have been obtained by The Observer - was sent at the end of last month from the office of Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer. It promises to sound the death knell for a range of public health programmes set up to tackle everything from alcohol abuse and cancer screening to sexually-transmitted diseases and obesity. Health experts believe the spending freeze could even hit attempts to reduce deadly MRSA outbreaks in hospitals and affect contingency planning in the event of an outbreak of bird flu. Antony Barnett and Solomon Hughes Sunday December 11, 2005 The Observer

This year's NHS bill is £87bn ... so just where did the cash go? All new spending on the NHS has been blocked. How could a multi-billion pound increase in funding fail to prevent closed wards and cancelled operations? Jo Revill reports. Sunday December 11, 2005 The Observer

Put patients first. NHS hit squads are no solution. Leader Sunday December 11, 2005 The Observer

Health secretary Patricia Hewitt yesterday denied that spending cuts would damage initiatives such as those to curb smoking and improve sexual health, despite evidence from a leaked memo of a public health funding freeze. The memo, which came from the office of the chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, warned staff that they would face disciplinary action if they committed new money to public health programmes. Ms Hewitt played down the memo on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme yesterday, pointing out that the freeze did not apply to spending in hospitals or GP surgeries. The memo referred solely to the department of health budget which pays for public health campaigns and other centralised projects - not that of the NHS. Primary care trusts were not affected. Sarah Boseley, health editor Monday December 12, 2005 The Guardian

Gran's test case could force state to fund surgery abroad. Gaby Hinsliff Sunday December 11, 2005 The Observer

The NHS needs localisation, not regulated privatisation. Yet another restructuring of healthcare will waste more billions if it is based on choice rather than local service and control. Simon Jenkins Wednesday December 14, 2005 The Guardian

A flagship NHS hospital which opened four years ago under the government's private finance initiative admitted last night that it has become technically insolvent. Senior managers of Queen Elizabeth hospital NHS trust in Woolwich, south-east London, spoke to the Guardian after a warning from auditors that the annual deficit will climb to £100m by 2008-09 unless the government restructures a crippling PFI debt. The problems cast doubt on assurances from Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, that the NHS's financial difficulties can be resolved by "turnaround teams" of management consultants which she sent out this month to correct a £623m forecast deficit across England. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday December 16, 2005 The Guardian

The decision by some NHS trusts to deny hip and knee replacement surgery to obese patients has been criticised by doctors. Last month it emerged that obese people would not be entitled to such surgery on the NHS in East Suffolk. The ruling came as part of a series of measures to be taken by the three primary care trusts in the area in an attempt to save money locally for the NHS. It is believed that the risks of operating on obese patients are higher and the treatment may be less effective, with replacement joints wearing out sooner. But Nicholas Finer, a consultant in obesity medicine at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, challenged claims that surgery could be withheld on the grounds of increased risks for obese people, saying no evidence supports withholding joint replacement from obese people. Friday December 16, 2005 6:58 AM

Rationing in response to NHS deficits: rural patients are likely to be affected most. Sheena Asthana and Alex Gibson argue that statistics "show that poor financial management can at best only partly explain why some trusts are in deficit. The pattern of deficits implies that NHS funding provides insufficient resources for rural areas, for comparatively affluent areas, and, most particularly, for areas that are both rural and affluent. The risk is that such measures will result in NHS services being subject to a new postcode lottery, in which rural residents are more likely to lose out." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of British Medical Journal 16 December 2005

NHS accounting rules "can leave hospitals facing double deficit." Accountancy firm PwC has said that new rules for accounting in the NHS make it almost impossible for hospitals and primary care trusts to get out of serious deficits. The resource accounting and budgeting system means that any year's deficits are taken off the cash allocation for the next year, so for example a £10m deficit one year will mean a £10m reduction in resources in the next. PwC, accountants for the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Woolwich that last week revealed it was technically insolvent, said: "Once a trust has posted a significant deficit, it is very difficult to recover the cumulative position without financial support." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Financial Times 17 December 2005

A world-famous London teaching hospital has become the latest victim of a financial crisis in the NHS. University College hospital was given a maximum risk rating yesterday by Monitor, the foundation trust regulator, after posting a £17.4m loss over the first six months of the financial year. It blamed part of the deficit on the terrorist bombings in London in July, which resulted in the loss of four days of normal activity, adding £2m to the deficit. UCLH already had clearance to declare a £6m deficit for 2005-06 to cover the cost of moving its main hospital. But Monitor was alarmed at an unexpected deterioration of the balance sheet between October and November, when not enough patients were treated and cost savings did not materialise. It declared the trust to be "failing to exercise its functions in an effective, efficient and economic way". The failings, it said, were "significant". John Carvel, social affairs editor Saturday December 17, 2005 The Guardian

Chris Ham, former head of the Department of Health's strategy unit and an architect of the government's reforms, has said that hospitals will have to close because ministers are pursuing a policy of destabilising the NHS to push through reforms. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of The Times 19 December 2005

Cash crisis may force GPs' surgery to close for month. Doctors at a practice in Combs Ford, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, have said they will have to close for a month in March if East Suffolk PCTs go ahead with a proposal to defer the March payment of GPs until the new financial year in April. The surgery would only treat its 9,000 patients in "life-threatening emergencies". In a monthly newsletter Dr Jackie Muir said: "I am writing this notice to inform you that, if we are not paid in March, then the surgery will be forced to close, except for life-threatening emergencies. We hope that you will support us in our protest against the continuing under-funding of the NHS." East Suffolk PCTs are forecasting a deficit of over £40m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Daily Telegraph 21 December 2005

Expectant parents could face the modern-day equivalent of "no room at the inn" this Christmas because the NHS is closing birth centres in a bid to save money, a charity warned today. The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) is predicting that at least 10 birth centres have closed or are at risk of closure as a result of local NHS trusts struggling to balance their budgets. The charity said this could mean parents get no choice about where their children are born. The NCT said NHS trusts may believe that midwife-run birth centres in the community are more expensive to run than consultant-led maternity units, but the former increase women's chances of having a straightforward birth and reduce the need to use expensive medical facilities such as epidural anaesthetic, caesarean section or the special care baby unit. It claimed the closures are also putting more pressure on hospital maternity units where financial constraints and staff shortages mean that one midwife is often left running between two or more women in labour. Friday December 23, 2005

Operations restricted in North Somerset due to deficit. Patients with non-emergency and outpatient appointments will not be referred to hospital throughout January in an effort by North Somerset PCT to save £3.5m. The PCT aims to finish the financial year only £2million in the red after an agreement with Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA. The decision could apply to any of the large hospitals in the area, including Weston General Hospital, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Southmead and Frenchay. A spokeswoman said: "North Somerset PCT has today decided that it will manage all non-urgent activity for the remainder of the financial year, while still ensuring no patients wait longer than the national targets specify." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Western Daily Press 23 December 2005

An NHS trust is scrapping the routine procedure that cured Tony Blair of a heart murmur, because of its financial deficit and the need to hit the government's six-month waiting-list targets. The move by Oxford Radcliffe trust will leave hundreds of patients with a debilitating condition that reduces their quality of life. Cardiac catheter ablation, a procedure performed in day surgery which is more than 90% successful in curing an irregular heartbeat, will now only be available to a minority of high risk cases. Around 50 patients in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire who had been referred to the heart unit at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford have been taken off the waiting list and told they cannot now have the operation on the NHS. The numbers will build up over the next year. Sarah Boseley, health editor Monday January 2, 2006 The Guardian

Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, yesterday denied the government was responsible for a decision to withdraw a routine treatment from NHS patients which cured Tony Blair's irregular heartbeat in 2004. But her assurances were challenged by cardiologists, who insisted that a pricing bungle by the Department of Health was to blame and that hundreds of patients would suffer as a result. The Guardian disclosed yesterday that Oxford Radcliffe NHS trust has removed about 50 patients with the same condition as the prime minister from its waiting list, in an attempt to balance the books. It will no longer perform cardiac catheter ablations - day surgery to restore the normal rhythms of the heart - unless the patient's condition is a lot more serious than his. John Carvel, social affairs editor Tuesday January 3, 2006 The Guardian

Hospital trust attacked for taking heart patients off list. Commenting on Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust's decision to de-list cardiac catheter ablation, the government's national director for heart disease Dr Roger Boyle said that getting the value of the national tariff for the procedure right first time was a "tall order" and the Department of Health was "working to get it right", but it "is no excuse for taking people off waiting lists, however bad the financial problem in the locality." Local Lib Dem MP Evan Harris said the hospital had spent £100,000 treating patients with the condition in the private sector at £7,500 a time: "The NHS won't pay the Radcliffe more than £2,000 per case but it can pay whatever it likes to the private sector. It is just one way that the private sector makes a mint out of stupid NHS targets." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Financial Times 3 January 2005

GPs may stop giving children jabs in payment row. East Leicester and West Leicester PCTs say they can no longer afford to pay for MMR, polio, tetanus and TB vaccines and have told GPs to pay for them themselves. The PCTs have sent GPs backdated bills for the vaccines from December 1. They have also withdrawn funding for other services, including ear syringing and some blood tests. East Leicester PCT is trying to make up a deficit of £1m; and Leicester City West PCT £4.5m. The chairman of Leicestershire and Rutland LMC, the GPs' body, said: "Without any notice, the PCTs have deducted the money from the GPs. It has put the doctors in a very awkward position. Some might decide to opt out, though we wouldn't advise them to. There are many ridiculous steps being taken by PCTs to try to cut their costs." Leicester City West's chief executive said: "These are obviously not very popular measures. Our justification for them is that we're in a difficult financial position." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Leicester Mercury 4 January 2006
Mental health ward in Leicester closed. The Herrick Ward, part of the Brandon Unit of Leicester General Hospital, has been closed for six months with a loss of 30 beds while its future is decided. The closure saves Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust £400,000. Consultation on the future of the whole Brandon Unit will take place until February 3, but the trust has stated that it wants to close the unit completely and replace it with new wards. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Leicester Mercury 4 January 2006
Effect of NHS financial crisis felt around Yorkshire. At Barnsley's hospital, £700,000 has been saved with the loss of 35 posts; Rotherham hospital is planning to slash pay costs of non-clinical staff by 10%; hospitals in Sheffield are trying to save £20m due to losses resulting from payment by results and the extra costs of meeting targets; beleaguered Selby and York PCT has predicted debts of £23.7m, and Sheffield's PCTs have combined deficits of £17; Airedale NHS Trust has had to sell former staff residences and increase car parking charges to try to stay in balance. Hundreds of operations are being delayed in north Lincolnshire. Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale PCT, facing a £6.5m overspend, is interrogating hospitals as to why operations are being performed within a month. The trust's director of finance said: "There are more people going into hospital than we can afford. Hospitals in York and Scarborough are treating patients in three months - the national target is six months - and we are looking to slow some of those procedures." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire Post 4 January 2006
NHS services across two counties are on the brink of a financial collapse that could disrupt services to patients, the Audit Commission warned last night. It said the entire health economy in Surrey and Sussex is at risk due to weak financial management and failure to address problems raised by district auditors over the past few years. Hospitals and primary care trusts are heading for a collective deficit of £75m by the end of March and their cash position is so precarious that they may not be able to pay the wages or meet bills from suppliers. The warning came in a "public interest report" from Helen Thompson, the district auditor. John Carvel, social affairs editor Friday January 6, 2006 The Guardian
In-debt trust aims for foundation status. Good Hope Hospital trust in Birmingham has a predicted accumulated deficit of £15.7m yet is hoping to get foundation status within the next three years. The trust was previously managed by private company Tribal Secta at a cost of £562,000 in 2003-04, but the arrangement has now been severed without compensation after financial targets were consistently missed. The trust has now entered a "management partnership" with Heart of England foundation trust, with whom it shares chief executive Dr Mark Goldman. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 5 January 2006
No Christmas gifts for Cambridge NHS. Patricia Hewitt told the Cambridge Evening News she would not step in to avert cuts to Cambridgeshire's mental health budget totalling £3 million. Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire PCTs have a predicted deficit of £18 million, but Hewitt reiterated the government's zero tolerance policy to NHS debts. She said: "I am not sitting on a pot of gold in the Department of Health that is available to come to the rescue. I know of places who have got these deficits and they have said "can't you help us ?" I have said the only way we can help is for other parts of the country to underspend and lend you money…Cambridge has been in a very fortunate position compared to other parts of the country." Hewitt rejected the claim made by 27 psychiatric consultants who wrote a letter claiming that the government was "unmoved" by the magnitude of the proposed cuts: "I do not accept that at all…One of my own sisters suffered from very serious mental illness. It is an aspect of health care I feel particularly strongly about from my own personal experience…In relation to the consultants' concerns, which are very serious, these are going to be considered very carefully by the PCTs and the Mental Health Trust before decisions are made on the proposals that have been put forward." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Cambridge Evening News 6 January 2006
Debt-ridden hospital spends £700,000 on walls of scaffolding. Unison has criticised Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust for spending £700,000 on keeping scaffolding around two of its buildings for over five years - while getting rid of 109 beds and 650 jobs in eight months. The hospital trust has debts of £14m and says it has not been able to afford to have the cladding on the buildings repaired, hence the scaffolding. The trust now plans to demolish one of the buildings, which has been empty for nine months, to make way for a car park. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Daily Telegraph 6 January 2006
Heart of the matter. A Public Finance leader warns that "pseudo-markets in the public sector need to be handled with care, or the end result could be less choice, not more. That's certainly the situation in Oxfordshire, where more than 50 patients with irregular heartbeats have been removed from the waiting list." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Public Finance 6 January 2006
Five-month minimum wait in Bristol. Bristol South and West PCT has told United Bristol Healthcare Trust, which runs Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol Children's Hospital and St Michael's Hospital, that it will only pay for operations that are clinically imperative or where the patient has been waiting for more than five months. Affected conditions include hernias, varicose veins, gall bladder and gynaecological problems. The PCT has told UBHT that if its instructions are ignored then it will not pay for the work. The restrictions were revealed in a letter from United Bristol Healthcare Trust, in which medical director Jonathan Sheffield said: "The local health community is now in a difficult financial position, which it will not be able to continue to operate under if expenditure continues at the same rate…We currently have no plans to cancel patients who already have dates for their admission agreed in January, although we are being asked to do this. We recognise that this agreement appears to penalise those specialists that have taken the greatest strides in reducing maximum waiting time and improving the quality of service for their patients." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Bristol Evening Post 9 January 2006
Mental health charity warns of "devastating" cash cuts. The chief executive of East Suffolk Mind says the charity may have to reduce services to tackle a possible budget shortfall of £200,000 next year, because of cuts by beleaguered East Suffolk PCTs and the county council. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of East Anglian Daily Times 9 January 2006
Health cuts in Hewitt's back yard. Leicester West PCT is cutting support for people trying to quit smoking and the availability of the morning-after pill in Patricia Hewitt's constituency. The trust has a predicted £4.5m deficit. Hewitt said that while she wanted trusts to balance their books she did not intend this to be at the expense of patients' services. She said: "I asked for them to make savings on administration costs to remain within their increased budgets. I'm disappointed Leicester West primary care trust has found itself in this situation." Elsewhere in Leicestershire Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT is considering closing a mental health ward as it tries to save £3m. Leicester East PCT (£1m predicted deficit) and Leicester West last week told GPs they could no longer afford to pay for childhood immunisations. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Leicester Mercury 9 January 2006
Cuts force patient to take loan. One of the patients whose operation was cancelled when Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust chose not to offer cardiac catheter ablations for reasons of cost under payment by results has had to take out a £10,000 loan to get private treatment. Mike Collins from Abingdon fears he will have to work past retirement age to repay the loan. In the private sector the treatment costs between £8,000 and £10,000. Mike Collins said: "The NHS has moved the goal posts. I was on a waiting list for almost six months then I was taken off the list to help meet targets. I'm fortunate - I have the option of taking out a loan, other patients on that list might not be able to afford repayments." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 10 January 2006
Vigil planned over mental health cuts. Mental health patients and staff will be holding a silent vigil to draw attention to proposed cuts in Cambridgeshire. There will be a particular focus on the Young People's Service, which helps young people with problems including anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders, and is facing closure. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Cambridge Evening News 10 January 2006
West Hospital overspend is up to £5.5m. The predicted deficit of Weston Area Health NHS Trust, which runs Weston General Hospital in Weston-super-Mare, has risen from £4m to £5.5m. The increase is largely due to a lack of referrals to the hospital. The trust is axing 29 non-clinical jobs as part of its bid to balance the books. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Western Daily Press 11 January 2006
A doctors' revolt against cost-saving measures to pull hospital trusts out of financial difficulty was announced yesterday by James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association. He said consultants would not cooperate with "silly games" being played by NHS managers in trusts with deficits who were trying to delay operations until the new financial year without taking proper account of patients' medical needs. "We are not going to connive with managers by telling patients they cannot have an operation until April when we know we could do it next week." Hospital managers had the authority to close operating theatres. But, as long as they remained open, consultants would crack on with the treatment patients needed. The BMA would give "total support" to doctors speaking out against unjustifiable economies. John Carvel, social affairs editor Thursday January 12, 2006 The Guardian
GP budget snub threat to NHS plan. GPs are proving slow to take on the responsibility of commissioning under practice-based commissioning. Only a quarter of doctors have so far opted to control the health budget for their patients. Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs committee, said: "The problem is that the NHS is gripped by deficits and doctors understandably do not want to take on budgets where cuts are being made." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 12 January 2006
A & E waits on the up - for 999 crews. Ambulance crews are having to wait up to four hours with patients outside the A & E department at East Surrey hospital in Redhill because staff are too busy to complete handover procedures. The delays have been occurring since the A & E was put under greater pressure by the closure of the emergency department at Crawley Hospital 18 months ago. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 12 January 2006
Leicester Hospital trust lends PCTs money. The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) has a £3m surplus for the year and is lending it to Leicestershire's cash-strapped PCTs. The money will be repaid on April 1, the new financial year. The move, in the county where Patricia Hewitt holds her seat, is exactly the kind of deficit-avoidance scheme that the health secretary is trying to discourage. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 13 January 2006
Church steps into NHS funding row in Suffolk. The church is lobbying Suffolk MPs over the funding crisis in the local health economy. 40 chaplains and parish priests from all denominations shared concerns over mental health services, poor rural provision and the national distribution of resources to Suffolk with MPs Richard Spring and David Ruffley. The churchmen said they are having to "pick up the pieces" left by inadequate NHS funding. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 16 January 2006
Hospital beds may go to cut debts in Stoke. North Stoke and South Stoke PCTs are considering closing hospital beds, cutting health visitor and district nurse posts, reducing services at the Haywood Community Hospital and Longton Cottage Hospital and urging GPs to write cost-effective prescriptions. They are seeking to save £8m from their deficit. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 16 January 2006
Hospitals set to wield axe on hundreds as debt rises. Up to 300 physicians, nurses and surgeons could be cut by the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust as part of an attempt to make £13.5m savings demanded by the SHA. The trust hopes to lose the jobs through non-replacement of leaving staff. The posts will be lost at the trust's three main hospitals - Hull Royal Infirmary, Castle Hill and Princess Royal. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Hull Daily Mail 16 January 2006
Cash crisis: ops may be delayed. Leicestershire's PCTs are considering delaying non-urgent operations until the new financial year. The PCTs have started discussions on the matter with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, who they pay to carry out operations at the Royal Infirmary, General and Glenfield hospitals. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Leicester Mercury 16 January 2006
MP's worry over NHS cash cuts. John Penrose, Weston-super-Mare's Tory MP, has criticised a deficit-saving measure by North Somerset PCT. The trust is planning to delay payment of its payroll PAYE and NI contributions to the Inland Revenue until the new financial year. The PCT also plans to make nearly £2 million in cuts to non-emergency outpatient attendances, non-elective admissions, accident and emergency attendances and the GP prescribing regime. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Western Daily Press 16 January 2006

Doctors have called for a meeting with ministers following concerns that a groundbreaking GP recruitment and retention scheme is under threat because of spiralling government spending. The British Medical Association described as "shortsighted" any move to scale down or scrap the flexible careers scheme, introduced four years ago to persuade GPs taking a career break or having children to return to practice. Hélène Mulholland Tuesday January 17, 2006

Women GPs hit first by cuts in NHS. A scheme to get more women GPs to return to work in the NHS after childbirth has been scrapped by the cash-strapped Department of Health. The project will no longer be centrally funded, and while the department says it has merely been devolved, it is unlikely that financially struggling trusts will implement it. The scheme allowed women to work flexible hours and had attracted more than 2,500 doctors. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Times 17 January 2006

Lincolnshire hospital trust overspend worsens. The deficits of East Lincolnshire PCT and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust are much greater than previously predicted, at £19.5m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of BBC Online 17 January 2006

NHS faces spending squeeze. A leaked Treasury document says that ministers must secure productivity gains from the NHS in return for making its doctors and nurses among the best paid in the world. With NHS spending growth falling from its current 7% to 4% or possibly less than 3% after 2008, the document says financial control must be ensured and there is a need to "manage input costs" and "drive higher productivity and efficiency through the system". Other government pledges mean there will be pressure to reduce the share of the rise in spending that will go to health in Gordon Brown's spending review, which concludes next year. The briefing also says savings must be made on branded drugs, as France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium all pay approaching 20% less. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Financial Times 17 January 2006

NHS told to cut costs as Hewitt confirms spending squeeze. Patricia Hewitt has confirmed that the NHS must prepare for a large reduction in spending growth, after a Treasury presentation suggested that growth of 7-8% will be cut to 4 or even less than 3% after 2008. Hewitt said: "We have always known that after 2008, when we will effectively have eliminated waiting lists and got to the European average on healthcare funding, we won't need the same level of unprecedented funding." Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Telegraph 18 January 2006

The NHS deficit in England is set to hit £1.2 billion and almost 4,000 health service jobs could be lost, nursing leaders have warned. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said that deficits were now hitting patient services and treatments as NHS managers fought to tackle the cash crisis. Their claims were backed up in a survey by the Health Service Journal which found that 75% of NHS chief executives believed patient care would be affected by the financial problems hitting the NHS. Thursday January 19, 2006 10:14 AM

An unhealthy service in dire need of surgery. An Independent leader says: "Each day brings more evidence that the National Health Service is slipping into a financial crisis…[It] is not going to resolve itself in the space of two years. There will be pressure for the spending splurge to continue. But will the Government be able to afford this without raising taxes ? And will the public be willing to see more of their money poured into a failing system ?" Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Independent 18 January 2006

Probe urged to look at NHS management. Hospital workers in North Staffordshire are calling for Unison to focus on their region's £18m debt in its inquiry into the financial crisis. They say the fault lies with the politicians rather than health managers. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Stoke Sentinel 18 January 2006

Health cuts branded an absolute horror. The proposed cuts by North Stoke and South Stoke PCTs include the temporary closure of 10 beds at Westcliffe Hospital, Chell; a reduction in the number of beds and suspension of X-ray services at Longton Cottage Hospital; a reduction in service at Haywood Hospital walk-in centre, Burslem; a reduction in the number of health visitors and district nurses pending a city-wide service review. The PCTs have a combined deficit of £9m. Pressure group North Staffordshire Healthwatch said the cuts would hit the elderly and the vulnerable particularly hard, but would have knock-on effects for the whole population. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Stoke Sentinel 18 January 2006
Savings plans hit social services hard. Chief executives are withholding national insurance contributions and delaying paying taxes, private partners and local authorities to control debts. One in five said they had - or would - delay payments to private sector partners. The same proportion will have done the same to local government partners by the end of March. In areas such as Wiltshire the NHS is accepting responsibility for less patients, particularly the elderly in need of long-term care, and leaving them to social services. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 19 January 2006
Drastic measures fail to halt trusts' overspend. Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA has confirmed that its trusts have been forced to make "clinical capacity reductions in some areas" and "reductions in the numbers of staff employed". Despite drastic measures, including closures of wards and services, recruitment freezes and reductions in clinical capacity, West Wiltshire PCT, Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT, Cotswold and Vale PCT, South Wiltshire PCT, Weston Area Health trust and Royal United Hospital Bath trust will not break even. They forecast a combined deficit of almost £58m. The SHA has the NHS's largest predicted deficit of £119m. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 19 January 2006
Financial warnings hit 12-year peak. Trusts and strategic health authorities were handed more financial health warnings by the Audit Commission in 2005 than in the previous 12 years put together. There were 24 public interest reports last year. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 19 January 2006
Minister orders SHAs to reveal mental health cuts. Under pressure from campaigners health minister Rosie Winterton has ordered SHAs to reveal the extent of cuts planned to mental health services. HSJ's finance survey suggests that 58 per cent of mental health trust chief executives have had to close wards, and 42 per cent have delayed building works. Nearly four in five mental health trust chief executives who responded to the survey said they had implemented recruitment freezes, and 21 per cent had made redundancies. The worst hit areas include Suffolk, where Suffolk Mental Health Partnership trust is facing £5m cuts and proposes to close day hospitals, occupational therapy and clubhouses; Oxfordshire, where Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare trust is consulting on plans to save £4.3m, including closure of a 15-bed older people's acute unit; Cheshire and Worcestershire, where wards are predicted to close; and Cambridgeshire, facing a £3m budget cut. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal 19 January 2006
Patient care is suffering because of cost cutting. Commenting on the research by the Royal College of Nursing showing that deficits are much worse than the government admits, Barbara Tassa, chair of the RCN public policy committee, said: "Patients are suffering and nursing posts are being lost because of the deficits crisis in the NHS and this is unacceptable. The Government has repeatedly said that action taken by trusts to balance their books would not affect patient services. This is now clearly not the case. We are seeing a situation which is deteriorating. We have real concerns about the stability of NHS finances, especially in view of the roll-out of reforms such as patient choice and payment by results." RCN calculations showed that while 27% of ordinary NHS trusts have a deficit problem, the figure for foundation trusts is 50%, contradicting official figures from Monitor. Ministers announced yesterday that a further 18 hospitals had been approved to apply to become NHS foundation trusts. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Independent 19 January 2006
Hospitals shut wards as cash crisis bites. A Health Service Journal survey of 117 chief executives of NHS trusts reveals the depth of concern about the destabilising impact of government reforms. It shows that 75% of chief executives say that the current financial squeeze will adversely affect patient treatment. Half say that building and refurbishment projects are being delayed. Separate research by the Royal College of Nursing found that cost-cutting measures, including freezing job vacancies and use of agency staff, are having a "direct and detrimental" effect on patients, with operations cancelled, appointments postponed and beds closed. A total of 81 NHS trusts have been investigated by accountants KPMG, including 20 of 28 SHAs, 29 PCTs, and 33 hospital trusts. The Department of Health previously announced that "turnaround teams" were only visiting 50 bodies. The Times also reveals that Tony Blair is planning a shake-up of health ministers and civil servants in response to the crisis. A new minister will be instated to fend off criticism of the government's reforms from the media and Labour MPs. The jobs of ministers Rosie Winterton and Jane Kennedy are at risk. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Times 19 January 2006
NHS trusts are using cash meant for sexual health services to balance their books. A report by medical charities including the Terrence Higgins Trust, the HIV and AIDS organisation, says that just 30% of PCTs say they plan to spend the extra funding given to them for sexual health services on its intended purpose. The need to invest in sexual health services is "overshadowed by the pressure on PCTs to achieve financial balance". The government provided £250m in extra funding for sexual health. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of British Medical Journal 20 January 2006
Closing ward may stop NHS merger. The closure of a ward at Ormskirk Hospital is being sold as a way to avoid the merger of Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust with Liverpool Hospital Trusts. West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper said: "This is a difficult decision for the hospital, but the best way that they can help safeguard the future of Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals is to stop it haemorrhaging money." The closure would mean the loss of 14 beds. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Ormskirk Advertiser 20 January 2006

Patients face longer wait for treatment as minor injuries unit cut. North Staffordshire's PCTs are planning to withdraw £130,000 annually from a pioneering walk-in centre at Burslem's Haywood Hospital as they struggle to claw back millions of pounds of debt. This would leave the Haywood centre with just its £800,000 of central government funding, undermining its ability to hit the four-hour waiting target. This week Newcastle PCT also announced it will be pulling funding from cancer services and a mental health care initiative. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Stoke Sentinel 20 January 2006

Names of health trusts obtained under Freedom of Information Act listed. Kevin Reed, Accountancy Age, 20 Jan 2006. For further analysis and the list of strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and acute trusts investigated see Trusts in financial problems
Threat to bowel cancer screening. A £37m initiative for a national screening programme to help to prevent up to 5,000 deaths a year from bowel cancer is in doubt because of the financial crisis gripping the NHS. Ministers are refusing to give an assurance that the programme will go ahead in April as planned. Summary by Keep our NHS Public of Sunday Telegraph 22 January 2006

Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, will call for the end of the "handout culture" in the NHS this week and demand that financial management be put ahead of clinical objectives. Under the new financial regime, health trusts will sink or swim on their ability to attract patients under a system of payment by results that threatens the income of poor performers. On Thursday, M