Shropshire health bosses urged to 'come clean' over Government spending cut consequences
Health campaigners today called on the Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group to admit that it does not receive enough money from Central Government.
Gill George, of Shropshire Defend Our NHS, said planned spending cuts at the organisation are "terrifying and could devastate patient care."
Mrs George was speaking after the crisis was discussed at a meeting of the governing board of Shropshire CCG.
The Shropshire Star revealed this week that the organisation currently has an £18 million budget deficit, forecast to rise to £31 million without action to cut spending.
The CCG's accountable officer, David Evans, said they would be looking to cut spending by £11 million by the end of the financial year, although he pledged that the target would be achieved.
Mr Evans has admitted that patients could be asked to lose weight or quit smoking before they have operations, although he said the decision would be about patient safety and ensuring the best outcomes.
Mrs George, chairwoman of Shropshire Defend Our NHS, believes that the CCG needs to lobby for more funding.
She claimed: "There are massive cuts. This is terrifying. This is going to devastate patient care. Patients will be left in pain, or with disability, or in some cases facing death because the CCG has run out of money.
"It's time for local NHS leaders to start telling the truth. There is not enough money coming into Shropshire's NHS to provide adequate healthcare for our area. If they're willing to be honest about this, then we can go to our local MPs and ask them to lobby the government for fair funding.
"If we carry on pretending everything's fine, the future for the NHS – and all of us who use it – is looking very, very bleak indeed."
The CCG has listed a number of items to cut spending, although they only amount to £650,000 over the remainder of the financial year, and £1.9 million in a full financial year.
Mrs George told of how the proposed cuts, including removing four GP beds from Much Wenlock Care Home and not renewing the Lifestyle Physio contract, amounted to only a fraction of the amount required.
She said: "There was no indication in the meeting that the board has any kind of credible plan. They showed considerable contempt for the people of Much Wenlock when they nodded through the loss of four CCG-funded beds at the Lady Forrester Nursing Home, ignoring a petition signed by 1,426 out of a population of around 2000.
"That, though, will save them £70,000 this year. The Lifestyle Physio service they also agreed to close will save them £45,000. In July they agreed a fairly frightening list of QIPP savings, including cuts to ICS and the Better Care Fund. Still this is a fraction of the cuts they will be forcing through to save £33.6m. We're talking about the dismantling of core services here. There is no other way to achieve those savings.
"Without investment in community services, the Future Fit plan can't possibly work – yet they're cutting community services rather than investing in them."
