According to a survey carried out by the health think-tank ‘The King’s Fund’, “a third of finance directors report that the quality of NHS care in their area has deteriorated over the past 12 months, compared with only about one in six in our last survey”.
The results from the survey raise fresh concerns about the treatment of patients, which has been blamed in part on rising demands for treatments, as well as tight budgets.
Also included in the survey are reports that more than a quarter of Trusts are breaching the ‘four hours waiting time’ target in their Accident and Emergency Departments; a clear indicator that hospitals are struggling in this area.
Professor John Appleby, Chief Economist at ‘The King’s Fund’ said: ‘The NHS faces unprecedented financial pressures, and there are growing worries that patient care will suffer. For social care, it will be increasingly difficult for councils to make further savings without directly cutting services or affecting quality. Health and care services have coped well until now, but it is clear that many organisations expect things to become much more difficult over the coming year.’
The survey can be found at:
