East Kent hospital trust among most challenged in the country

Previously an unplanned pay award and strike action had been given as some of the reasons for the deficit

A hospital trust in east Kent is among the "most challenged" in the country, as it faces a deficit of almost £70m.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust remains under NHS England's oversight, with bosses calling in independent consultants to explain the financial situation.

The trust's board of directors has been told that at the end of October it had recorded losses of £68.2m.

This is £22.7m more than the deficit planned by this point in the year.

The trusts runs the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) in Margate, the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Buckland Hospital in Dover, and Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone.

Chair of the board Niall Dickson said the trust was in level four of the NHS Oversight Framework, which was "designed for the most challenged organisations".

NHS papers describe this level of oversight as being for bodies with "very serious, complex issues manifesting as critical quality and/or finance concerns that require intensive support".

'Very little progress'

New chief financial officer Tim Glenn told the board; "The cost improvement plan delivery this year has been far from ideal. We need a much, much better position from that."

Richard Oirschot, the chairman of the finance committee, said: "Very little progress has been made in achieving the savings."

The trust was scheduled to move to a reduced level of NHS oversight in March 2024, but Moira Durbridge of NHS England said: "We can all see here that we're not going to meet the requirements for that."

A revised forecast will be presented in the new year.

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