Shropshire health commissioners could get help with debt
The organisation that commissions health services in Shropshire will be offered a financial reprieve if it ends the current financial year with a deficit of no more than £13.3 million, health bosses have been told.
Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is already predicting to have ended 2017/18 with a deficit of nearly £27 million, although finance bosses say this could be reduced by using nearly £2m in the CCG's reserves.
The amount will be added to its historic debt of £32.6 million, bringing the total owed to more than £50m.
A finance plan and budget for 2018/19 was put before Shropshire CCG's governance board at a meeting yesterday.
It shows that the CCG will aim to end the current financial year with an annual deficit of no more than £13.3m.
Chief finance officer Claire Skidmore said that if it meets its target the CCG will be given £13.3m by a new commissioner sustainability fund to offset that year's debt.
This would avoid the organisation falling further into the red with its finances.
But the plans show that the CCG would also need to make more than £22m in savings in 2018/19 to reach its target.
Areas such as commissioning, contracting and prescribing would be looked at in order to achieve the savings needed.
A report to the governance board by Ms Skidmore claims making such savings would be "hugely challenging but should be, to a large extent, deliverable".
Dr Julian Povey, chairman of the CCG, told board members yesterday that they would need to make sure any impact to patient care was kept to a minimum.
The plans have yet to be signed off by the governance board but members supported the work carried out so far.
The meeting was told that some risks remain within the plan and further work is needed to offset a level of 'unmitigated risk'.
In a report to the board, Ms Skidmore said: "The CCG is expected to deliver a control total of £13.3m deficit in 2018/19 and in doing so meet all of the ‘business rules’ for CCGs.
"A new commissioner sustainability fund has been created from funds within the new national monies.
"If the CCG is able to meet the requirements of the fund, including meeting its control total, it will be allowed to access funds to offset the in-year deficit.
"Hence this would stem the accumulation of debt to be repaid in future years.
"It is therefore imperative that the CCG sets a realistic plan that the governing body believe to be deliverable in order to maximise our opportunity to release these funds and help to deliver the CCG back to financial balance."
Health bosses previously said a huge rise in the price of drugs and challenges within the out-of-hours GP service Shropdoc had added to its financial pressures over the past year.
