Debt-ridden NHS trust to be stable again - officer

Chief finance officer Claire Skidmore said the NHS body had made "great strides"

An NHS trust has agreed a three-year plan to cut up to £260m from its budget and break even.

Under the plan, NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin aims to make total 'efficiencies' of £95.5m this year, £80.6m in 2026/27 and £84.5m in 2027/28.

It includes cutting £30m from the £312m project to reorganise services between Shrewsbury and Telford, and also cutting £37.5m from urgent and emergency care.

There is a target of saving a further £20m from "non-clinical" back office roles, replacing agency, reducing vacancies, sickness, turnover and unavailability.

Speaking at a board meeting on Wednesday, chief finance officer Claire Skidmore said: "We have to return to a stable financial position."

But she said the health system had "made great strides" recently and added: "We have a much clearer view of what has been driving our deficit and also what we can do to address that."

Her report looked at ways of reducing the need for hospital treatment, including more care at home or in the community.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.