FTs doing an excellent job in making savings so far

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Monitor has said that there is an overall improvement in the number of foundation trusts meeting healthcare targets, and maintaining the steady progress over the last year. The regulator added that all trusts will be under increasing pressure to continue to meet targets and deliver savings in future.  The foundation trust sector has delivered a surplus of £201m , which is £23m ahead of plan this year– funds that are available for trusts to reinvest in patient care.

Commenting on Monitor’s plea to foundation trusts to make more cost savings earlier in the year,

Chris Hopson, chief executive of the Foundation Trust Network said:

“Monitor is right to identify that, up to now, the vast majority of trusts are doing an excellent job of realising savings and meeting quality and service targets. That’s a genuine cause for celebration.

“But, as the National Audit Office pointed out last week, too many of the savings have come from a pay freeze that may end next year. The easiest savings have been made first and are now complete. It will get a lot more difficult from here, as the announcement on next year’s tariff has already shown.”

Note to Editors:

The Foundation Trust Network (FTN) is the membership organisation for the NHS acute hospitals and community, mental health and ambulance services that treat patients and service users in the NHS. The FTN helps those NHS trusts deliver high quality, patient focussed, care by enabling them to learn from each other, acting as their public voice and helping shape the system in which they operate. The FTN has over 210 members – more than 90% of all NHS foundation trusts and aspirant trusts – who collectively account for £65 billion of annual expenditure and employ more than 630,000 staff.