Half of NHS finance directors say patient care has deteriorated over past year

To cope with the increased winter demand for NHS services, hospitals will open 3,000 extra beds. Credit: PA

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia

More than half of NHS finance directors are concerned patient care has deteriorated over the past year, a think tank has warned.

With 4.1 million people on hospital waiting lists, the King's Fund revealed 51% of finance directors had a negative outlook on the service in their area. Just 6% claimed improvements had been made in the past twelve months.

Warning the seven-year squeeze on NHS and social care budgets is impacting patient care, the think tank’s quarterly monitoring report found 89.7% of A&E patients were seen within four hours in September compared with 90.6% in September last year. The NHS target is to see 92% of patients within four hours.

This decline came despite a major effort to improve A&E patient performance.

Siva Anandaciva, the King's Fund chief analyst, called the outlook "sobering," adding that NHS funding pressures are having "a real impact".

"This is happening despite the herculean efforts of staff and NHS leaders working to maintain standards of care under huge pressure," he said.

To cope with the increased winter demand for services, NHS hospitals will open 3,000 extra beds.

An NHS England spokesman said: "As the CQC (Care Quality Commission) recently reported, the NHS's high standards of care have been maintained and in many cases improved but in the face of mounting pressures as also set out by the King's Fund."

Eddie Saville, chief executive of the Hospital Consultants & Specialists Association doctors union, said the findings will deepen concern among hospital doctors.

"Finance directors are the people tasked with making the sums add up at a local level, so it is revealing that a growing number report declining standards of care amid the efficiencies already being demanded to meet their targets,” he said.