Bureau Recommends: NHS Trust may not be able to pay staff
A report in the Sunday Telegraph today suggests that the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) is suffering a cash shortfall which could mean thousands of staff will not receive their salaries in the month of August. Those affected will include doctors, nurses and other support staff, according to a leaked email.
UHL is one of the largest and busiest trusts in the country with a budget of £688m and 10,000 staff, but its chief executive Malcolm Lowe-Lauri has admitted to a cash ‘overshoot’ of between £5m and £6m.
Mr Lowe-Lauri put the Trust’s financial straits down to the ‘relentless demand’ on the hospital’s emergency department over the winter, the need to hire extra staff on ‘expensive short term rates’ and open extra wards.
The Trust does not have ‘Foundation’ status so, unlike other hospitals, cannot borrow money from the private sector to make good the shortfall.
Lowe- Lauri said: ‘If we don’t act now and allow the current situation to continue then theoretically the hospitals run out of cash in September. But we are committed to this not happening because we will act.’
The Telegraph’s report comes as David Cameron struggles to bring in major health service reforms.
