Yahoo Finance Nearly 40% of local NHS bodies mismanaging taxpayer money
Nearly 40% of local NHS bodies in England have been flagged by auditors for poor financial management and indications that they’re not delivering value for money, according to a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO).
There are 442 local NHS bodies in England that receive about £100 billion in funding each year. The NAO warned on Thursday that 168 got red flags from auditors in the last financial year, up by nearly one-third over the past two years.
The NAO’s head, Amyas Morse, said he was “shocked” by the rising number of red-flag audit reports for local NHS bodies, as well as red flags for local authorities such as police and fire services.
“Let us hear no cries of ‘where were the auditors?’ when things go wrong. The answer will be ‘they did the job, but you weren’t listening’,” he said in a written statement on Thursday. Warnings from auditors have generally not been escalated and the NAO said many local bodies had “inadequate or complacent responses.”
The NAO report said the high level of auditor warnings highlighted how many NHS bodies were not meeting financial targets, were not delivering required savings, and did not have sufficient plans to sort out their financial problems.
“Failure to keep spending within annual limits or to operate in a financially sustainable way means that some local NHS bodies may have to make difficult decisions about which services they can deliver, and to whom, and so can have a direct impact on local taxpayers,” it said.
Morse said: “This is not good enough; local bodies need to address their weaknesses, and departments across government should ensure they are challenging local bodies to demonstrate how they are responding.”
A number of NHS bodies that had received red-flag audits explained that wider issues affecting health care made them feel unable to fix the root problems that were flagged, according to the NAO report.
The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care responded to the NAO warnings, noting that it was working with NHS bodies to address their challenges and financial issues.
“Reducing waste so taxpayers’ hard-earned money is spent wisely is … a core part of the NHS Long Term plan,” a spokesperson said.
Prime minister Theresa May’s government has promised to ramp up spending on the NHS, with plans to increase the NHS budget by £20.5 billion a year, after inflation, by the 2023-2024 financial year.
This investment “means we will have a health service that is fit for the future,” said the health department spokesperson.
NHS England and NHS Improvement, which oversees NHS trusts, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the NAO report.
Meg Hillier, a member of parliament and chair of the committee of public accounts, said the NAO findings were “deeply concerning.”
“With ever stretched public services, citizens deserve to know that there are effective arrangements in place to make sure they are getting value for money,” the MP said in a written statement.
