Southport and Ormskirk Hospital's £14.75m deficit

The NHS faces the “worst cash crisis in its history” as accountants said they expect the full-year debt to reach £3billion.

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust is currently running at a deficit, with a predicted multi-million pound overspend for 2015/16.

The hospital is spending considerably more money than it receives in funding - and is forecast to have bust its budget by a colossal £14.75m, when the NHS financial year ends next month.

The trust’s chief executive and three of his top team have now been suspended from work for over six months , as an investigation sparked by whistleblowing complaints continues.

However, Southport Hospital is not a special case. The NHS faces the “worst cash crisis in its history” as accountants said they expect the full-year debt to reach £3billion.

The nearby Aintree Hospital will exceed its budget by £12.9m.

Shadow Health Secretary Heidi Alexander this week said the Tories have sent the NHS plunging it into “financial freefall”, after an overspend £622million worse than predicted in just the first nine months of this financial year.

A damning report on the state of the NHS by sector regulator Monitor found 179 of 240 service providers reported a deficit – 131 of them acute trusts.

It blamed the continuing high usage of agency staff, delayed transfers of care for patients and a failure to deliver the planned level of economies.after an overspend £622million worse than predicted in just the first nine months of this financial year.

The Department of Health said: “Our clampdown on expensive agency staff and management consultants is helping trusts to reduce spending.

“But hospital leaders must swiftly introduce the reforms announced in this month’s NHSefficiency review, so every penny possible can be invested in front-line patient care.”

Story source: Southport Visiter by Kate Lally