NHS trusts urged to 'really push' for savings

NHS staff in Shropshire are being urged to "really push" to bring down costs as they struggle to keep budgets under control.

The message came from Andrew Morgan, the chair of both the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust and Shropshire Community Health Trust.

He told a meeting the drive to make savings would include looking at "back office costs".

Redundancies were not being considered, Mr Morgan added - however he said there would need to be changes in the way the organisations work.

He also told the meeting that the heads of NHS organisations from all over the country were called to a meeting on Thursday where they were told they must control their spending.

He said it had been a short notice meeting for chairs and financial officers about the financial situation in the NHS going into the coming financial year.

There, representatives were told "deficits need to go", he said.

At a meeting of the hospital trust, also held on Thursday, Mr Morgan reported their forecast deficit was getting bigger.

The change was from £17.2m to £22.7m and the trust was expected to end the financial year between £23.3m and £29.3m in deficit.

"We need to really push to get every ounce of value out of every pound that the public gives us," Mr Morgan said.

Non-executive director Teresa Boughey said it meant all roles would need to be reviewed across the workforce.

"We need to make sure there are no sacred cows," she said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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