North Bristol NHS Trust goes into special measures

Patients have been told their care will not be affected by North Bristol NHS Trust going into special financial measures.

The trust, which runs Southmead Hospital, is overspending by around £250,000 a day. Its predicted deficit for this year is £48 million.

7% of the trust's annual turnover goes towards repaying the cost of the £430 million rebuild of Southmead Hospital. Under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI), a private company organised and financed the project on the trust's behalf.

Around 100 hospitals have been funded like this. Successive governments have argued that PFIs facilitate big infrastructure projects, but others worry that the taxpayer does not get value for money.

In a statement the Trust reassured patients, but could not offer the same certainty to staff:

London managers will now work with the Trust to come up with a recovery plan, which they will oversee. NHS Improvement says it expects to bring about rapid change at the Trust.

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