Morning:
8°c
London has best and worst NHS cash managers
Sophie Goodchild2 Oct 2008
Health chiefs are putting patients' lives at risk by failing to manage NHS finances, it was revealed today.
A new report from the Audit Commission reveals huge variation across the capital in how they use their cash.
More than half of NHS trusts who received the worst rating are in London - some for the third year in a row. They include Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust, Queen Mary's Sidcup and Whipps Cross, who were judged "inadequate".
Barking and Dagenham was the only PCT in the country whose rating fell this year.
Yet half of all NHS trusts with a top score were also in London.
Bromley PCT received the highest rating in the country for its "strong performance".
It came highest out of all 302 NHS bodies across England for its financial management.
Other top performers over the past year include Kingston Hospital trust and Camden PCT. The Royal Free hospital trust in Hampstead has also upped its score from the lowest to the highest rating in just three years.
The Audit Commission findings are based on how well health bosses use their cash, the value of money they give patients, how good their plans are for managing budgets and their ability to balance their books at year end.
Overall financial performance in the NHS was an improvement on 2006/2007.
Just under a half of England's NHS trusts and PCTS - 28 out of 60 - improved their overall score.
An aggressive government drive has meant many trusts are now back in the black. This has also led to a record NHS cash surplus of £1.65 billion after years of cutbacks.
But several in London, including Bromley Hospital and Queen Mary's Sidcup, are under threat because they have been identified as " underperforming".
Audit Commission chairman Michael O'Higgins warned that trusts in the capital with low scores still need to try harder and that average performers must also review their finance strategies.
He said: "Even if this doesn't affect patient care in the short term, it's a bit like someone building up debt on credit cards.
"You can only go on so long before the day of reckoning comes.
"We don't want a return to the days when managers were having to cancel operations and close wards.
"Patients and the public deserve better from the weak performers, who must learn from the strong performers.
"The fact is that some managers are obviously better than others but those who do well should be rewarded with promotion - especially those who have managed to take a weak organisation and turn it around."
