Hospital bosses meet to tackle finances
IPSWICH Hospital must make urgent savings, the Trust's director of finance has warned.Currently the trust has to make £1.5million in savings in a bid to break even at the end of the financial year in April.
IPSWICH Hospital must make urgent savings, the Trust's director of finance has warned.
Currently the trust has to make £1.5million in savings in a bid to break even at the end of the financial year in April.
Chris Dooley, director of finance said in a report to the Trust board that a huge growth in emergency admissions was partly to blame for the problems.
Locum and agency staff have had to be called in during recent months to enable the hospital to open up extra beds and wards.
In the report Mr Dooley stated: "A considerable amount of work has been undertaken to establish the reasons for the overspend that the Trust is experiencing.
"The most significant factor is the 10.3 per cent growth in emergency admissions compared with the same period last year.
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"This has both direct and indirect consequences. For example, the Trust has responded to the bed pressures by opening additional beds across the hospital necessitating additional staffing at premium rates.
"Further the high levels of bed occupancy has led to inefficiencies including the loss of expensive theatre time die to operations being cancelled due to lack of beds."
Departments are also being targeted for overspends with debts relating to things including drugs, patient appliances and medical and surgical supplies.
According to the report the Trust has identified a number of areas which would help reduce expenditure.
These include less transfer of patients between wards, reducing the amount of patients admitted the day before an operation and increasing the capacity of the discharge lounge so more people can be discharged in the morning.
The report is due to be discussed today at a public board meeting of the Trust.
