News / Savings push must not harm care, say MPs

Efficiency savings must be genuine and be achieved without harming patient care, according to Commons public accounts committee chairman Edward Leigh (pictured above).

Launching the committee’s report on the NHS England 2007/08 summarised accounts, Mr Leigh said that during this period of economic uncertainty, when resources would be severely stretched, it was more important than ever for the NHS to demonstrate value for money and continuous improvements in productivity.

The Department of Health intends that the NHS generate £15bn to £20bn in efficiency savings between 2011 and 2014.

The committee insisted that these must be achieved, but be sufficiently robust to withstand external scrutiny while not having any detrimental effect on patient care.

‘It is of the utmost importance that the NHS achieves value for money from its funding and that productivity is continuously driven up. What must be demonstrated, rather than just asserted, is that improvements in efficiency are genuine and not at the expense of the care provided to patients,’ Mr Leigh said.

He was also concerned that patient care should not be affected by the generation of surpluses.

The report said the 2007/08 surplus was almost £1.7bn, nearly twice the amount planned and was significantly higher than the original forecast of £916m. Underspends were spread throughout the service in all types of healthcare body.

Some contingency planning was sensible, while at the same time there was an increase in the quality of financial management at individual bodies and the quality of care improved.

However, Mr Leigh said there was another side to the coin. ‘It’s not the case that the bigger a surplus the better. Patients lose out if too much NHS funding is sitting unspent in bank accounts,’ he added.

While some of the surplus that was generated in 2008/09 would be available to spend in 2009/10 and 2010/11, patients’ immediate needs should not be forgotten.

The report added that the Department and the NHS was facing several challenges, including changes to the financial reporting framework and timetable, and the introduction of the commissioning for quality and innovation incentive payment scheme.

It said the surplus generated and better financial management should, if maintained, help deal with the financial implications of meeting these challenges.