Sheffield hospitals struggling to save money
Hospitals in Sheffield are struggling to find ways save 100 million pounds over the next three years.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the Northern General, Hallamshire, Weston Park, Jessop Wing and Charles Clifford Dental hospitals, has an annual budget of 800 million pounds; over the next three years the trust must save 100 million pounds. The drive to save money in Sheffield is part of a national effort to save 20 billion pounds in NHS spending.
The trust is now trying to come up with ways to save money without affecting front line services; one possible way of saving money is to offer orthopaedic patients physiotherapy 7 days a week instead of three or four times a week; this way, patients will recover in a shorter space of time and be discharged from hospital quicker.
Dental hospitals will also be affected by the budget cuts; the spending cuts will undoubtedly affect dental services and many local people may be forced to wait longer or travel further for an appointment. The foundation is trying to find ways to improve efficiency rather than alter front line services and they are trying to find solutions which will not affect the public in a negative way.
Sheffield’s Children Hospital is also facing troubled times; currently, children’s hospitals receive around 78 percent more money than other hospitals for each procedure they carry out; however, Health Minister Andrew Lansley is set to reduce this to just 25 percent. Barnsley Hospital has been highlighted as the worst affected hospital in the area; the hospital has been asked to find double the savings of some other hospitals, as health officials have predicted that revenues at the hospital will fall in the coming years.
Additional measures including a two year pay freeze and a reduction in recruitment have also been suggested.
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