Trust slashes spending on patient services – but fails to meet targets for admin cuts
- West Herts Hospitals Trust is planning to cut £22 million from its spending this year – with most coming from patient services.
- But the Trust claims it can’t meet a target to reduce admin costs
- The Trust’s will cut about £20 from patient services this year, with temporary staffing being reduced by £8m and other cuts for A&E, elective activity and medicines.
- But the Trust says it can only make cuts of £1.6m in administrative ‘corporate services’
- The NHS has asked the Trust to cut nearly £10m from corporate services, but the Trust says it can only make £1.6m in savings
- Corporate services covers everything from controlling finance and purchasing equipment to managing buildings or technology infrastructure, from tracking performance and communications to keeping records for a ward.
- But even if it makes all these cuts, the Trust will still be in financial trouble. The reductions will leave it only about half-way to an overall £42 million annual savings target set for it by NHS England.
- The figures are contained in papers prepared for a 27 June meeting of the body that oversees the NHS in Herts and West Essex – the Integrated Care Board.
- The link to the papers is here – see pages about the South and West Herts Health and Care Partnership Integrated Delivery Plan:
- https://www.hertsandwestessex.ics.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWE-ICB-Public-Board_27.06.25_Final-Pack.pdf