‘Wholly unrealistic’ NHSE financial recovery policy risks ‘significant harm’ warns ICS
Leaders of an integrated care system in the Midlands have warned they cannot make the scale of staffing cuts required to balance the books without putting patients at risk.
Indicative analysis produced by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board also found its provider trusts would have to cut 10 per cent of their workforce to break even.
This would equate to 2,300 posts across University Hospitals North Midlands, Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust and North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare, while the ICB would have to cancel a “very high proportion” of third-sector contracts.
The document says this “would bring our teams below safe staffing levels” and have a “profound effect on our ability to deliver safe services”.
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Source: HSJ, 23 April 2024