NHS trusts and foundation trusts are running ‘unsustainable' deficits with financial risk increasing, the National Audit Office has revealed.
At the end of June 2014, NHS trusts were forecasting a net deficit for the current financial year of £404 million and foundation trusts a net deficit of £108 million.
This compares with initial plans of a net deficit of £425 million for NHS trusts and £20 million for foundation trusts.
The financial position of the NHS has worsened since 2012-13, with growing financial stress in NHS trusts and foundation trusts, the report identified.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said "An increasing number of healthcare providers and commissioners are in financial difficulty. The growth trend for numbers of NHS trusts and foundation trusts in deficit is not sustainable."
Trusts in surplus in 2013-14 were likely to have a lower surplus than in the previous financial year.
The number of trusts and foundation trusts with a surplus also fell from 222 in 2012-13 to 182 in 2013-14.
The report noted that financial risk is increasing in NHS trusts and foundation trusts, and those in severe financial difficulty continue to rely on in-year cash support from the Department of Health.
Spending
In 2013-14, over £0.5 billion extra money was issued to 21 NHS trusts and 10 foundation trusts to ensure that organisations in difficulty have the cash they need to pay staff and creditors.
NHS England underspent by £279 million compared with its original plan but, within this net total, it overspent £377 million on specialised services. The overspend was partly owing to over-ambitious planning assumptions. NHS England offset this pressure through use of its reserves.
Forty-nine clinical commissioning groups performed less well than originally planned: 12 of these had forecast a surplus but ended the year in deficit. The local auditor of clinical commissioning groups referred 19 bodies in deficit to the Secretary of State for spending more than their authorised resource limit.
To discourage unnecessary emergency admissions, trusts receive 30% of the full tariff payment for admissions above the level experienced during 2008-09. However, this arrangement has not contained demand. Increasing demands for emergency admissions will also reduce the resources commissioners have to invest in alternative primary or community care services.
Some NHS bodies have not made large enough cost savings, or contained the increasing demand for services within their available funding, whilst meeting quality and access targets.
The report said: "There remains considerable uncertainty about the impact of initiatives such as the Better Care Fund, which the Department and NHS England expect will reduce demand for acute hospital services."
The NAO confirmed it will look again at the planning process for commissioners and providers in 2015 to determine how well regulatory bodies are checking consistency between different parts of the health and social care system.
MP's response
Margaret Hodge MP, chair of the committee of Public Accounts said: "This is a deeply alarming report. I do not believe it is any exaggeration to say that the future sustainability of our National Health Service is at risk.
You just need to look at these figures: 22 NHS trusts in deficit at the end of March this year compared to 5 the year before. The number of foundation trusts in deficit has more than doubled from 20 to 41. The gross deficit of NHS and foundation trusts is up by an extraordinary 150%, from £297.2 million in 2012-13 to £743.3 million in 2013-14."
Hodge said that some trusts were getting by on "handouts" with the amount spent by the Department of Health on bailing out trusts in financial trusts doubling from £263m in 2012-2013 to £511m in 2013-14.
She continued: "Things are getting worse rather than better and we all know that when trusts are under this kind of financial stress it is the quality and safety of patient care that can suffer. An increasing proportion of foundation trusts cannot meet the terms of their licence, including meeting key measures of quality and outcomes, and the NHS Trust Development Authority had concerns about more than half - 55 of 98 - NHS trusts.
The Department, NHS England, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority between them must explain to my Committee how they are going to get a grip on this wholly unsustainable situation and get our NHS back on track.
