Too many doctors and nurses blamed for hospital debt

4:59pm Tuesday 21st November 2006

HEALTH Secretary Patricia Hewitt was under-fire today after blaming hospital managers for the NHS cash crisis - because they recruited too many doctors and nurses.

Trusts facing crippling financial debts - which include two in the North-East - had "employed more staff than they could afford", she told MPs.

"I have said we will return the NHS to financial balance by the end of the year and I take personal responsibility for that."

Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt

Now, as redundancies mount, staff are having to "bear the brunt" of difficult decisions necessary to balance the books, the Health Secretary added.

The comments were immediately condemned as "a slap in the face" for staff employed to meet the government's own strict targets to cut waiting times.

Ministers have repeatedly boasted about the huge increase in the number of doctors and nurses in the NHS since its budget soared.

Andrew Lansley, the Tory health spokesman, said: "In saying the NHS financial crisis has been caused by too many staff, Patricia Hewitt has sacrificed the jobs of doctors and nurses to save her own political skin."

And Liberal Democrat Sandra Gidley said: "The Health Secretary's comments are a slap in face for those staff who have helped achieve the government's distorted priorities."

In evidence to the health select committee, Ms Hewitt also hinted strongly she would resign if the NHS was not in the black by the end of the financial year, in March.

She said: "I have said we will return the NHS to financial balance by the end of the year and I take personal responsibility for that."

The pledge is a hostage to fortune because, two weeks ago, the NHS forecast a £94m deficit for March. Even Ms Hewitt said she was only "quite confident" of achieving it.

South Tees Hospitals trust, which runs James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, has a £21.4m 'historic debt'.

Similarly, North Tees trust, which runs district hospitals in Stockton and Hartlepool, still has a £12.8m debt on its books.

In total, they shed up to 500 posts last year to drastically cut spending, although there were only a handful of compulsory redundancies at South Tees and none at North Tees.

A fortnight ago, both trusts said no decisions had been taken about how to clear their debts.

Under fierce questioning yesterday, Ms Hewitt said the NHS had planned to have 75,000 hospital doctors by 2007 - but, in fact, had more than 82,000 by last year.

"That's why some organisations are in financial difficulties - they employed more staff than they could afford."

Extra staff were employed as hospital managers scrambled to ensure no patient waited longer than six months for treatment from this year - an order from Whitehall.

Furthermore, the department of health has admitted seriously underestimating the cost of new contracts for consultants, which are paid by hospital trusts.

A spokeswoman for South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust said: "As a trust we are forecasting a break-even position at the end of this financial year but that does not include addressing our historic debt of £21.4million.

"Discussions are continuing across the North East Strategic Health Authority area about how we will resolve the issue of historic debt but no decisions have yet been made.

"As part of its recovery plan, the trust has carried out a review of services. So far five members of staff have been made redundant.

At North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust a spokeswoman said: "We have had a vacancy freeze for some time as part of our efforts to control spending. There are probably 200 fewer people on the payroll than we had last year." The trust has saved £11m as part of a £13.5m saving plan.