Cash-strapped local NHS needs urgent funding boost - Farron

Figures released this week show that the local NHS Trust posted a deficit of more than £13million at the end of the third quarter, with a predicted deficit of almost £17 million by the end of the financial year. South Lakes MP Tim Farron has written to the Chancellor calling for an urgent cash boost in the upcoming budget to support cash-strapped local health services.

The figures, released by NHS Improvement, show that the Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust posted a deficit of more than £13million at the end of the third quarter, which was lower than planned. This is in contrast to NHS trusts across England as a whole, where the deficit of £886million at the end of the third quarter was more than £200million more than the planned amount.

Tim said: "These figures show that cash-strapped local NHS services desperately need more funding. A failure to provide the funds that are needed is having severe consequences for patient care. A&E units at the Morecambe Bay Trust are falling below NHS targets

"The Trust's deficit is smaller than planned, and a recent CQC report rated it as good, showing that it does not waste money through inefficiency. But our NHS is having to deal with unprecedented demand while being put through the longest squeeze in its history. The bottom line is that it desperately needs more cash.

"I have written to the Chancellor, to call for an urgent cash boost for our NHS in next month's budget. He must listen to NHS Improvement, who have described the current situation as 'unaffordable and unsustainable'. Unless more funding is announced, it is patient care that will suffer as standards slide."