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| Version 11 | Version 12 |
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| NHS fears despite books balancing | NHS fears despite books balancing |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Ministers have confirmed the NHS has balanced its books - although many hospitals and other parts of the service are still struggling with debt. | Ministers have confirmed the NHS has balanced its books - although many hospitals and other parts of the service are still struggling with debt. |
| Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt staked her job on wiping out the debt from previous years during 2006-07, and the figures show a surplus of £510m. | |
| But more than one in five NHS bodies in England are still in the red. | |
| The book balancing needed training and public health budget cuts. Extra cash due to the service was also held back. | The book balancing needed training and public health budget cuts. Extra cash due to the service was also held back. |
| MOST DEBT-RIDDEN NHS TRUSTS Hillingdon PCT (London) - £52.1m (21% of turnover)Hinchingbrooke (Cambs) - £13.3m (18%)Royal Cornwall NHS Trust - £36.5m (17%)Kingston PCT (London) - £21.1m (12%)Weston Area NHS Trust (North Somerset) - £6.7m (10%) Feeling the pinch Send us your comments | MOST DEBT-RIDDEN NHS TRUSTS Hillingdon PCT (London) - £52.1m (21% of turnover)Hinchingbrooke (Cambs) - £13.3m (18%)Royal Cornwall NHS Trust - £36.5m (17%)Kingston PCT (London) - £21.1m (12%)Weston Area NHS Trust (North Somerset) - £6.7m (10%) Feeling the pinch Send us your comments |
| The latest unaudited figures show that the combined debt of the 22% of NHS organisations who failed to break even in 2006-07 was £911m. | The latest unaudited figures show that the combined debt of the 22% of NHS organisations who failed to break even in 2006-07 was £911m. |
| In the previous financial year the NHS ran up an overall deficit of more than £500m, and the gross deficit - the total of all those organisations which ran up debts - was £1.3bn. | In the previous financial year the NHS ran up an overall deficit of more than £500m, and the gross deficit - the total of all those organisations which ran up debts - was £1.3bn. |
| However, the NHS, which had a budget of over £70bn for 2006-7, has only managed to balance the books by taking money from elsewhere. | |
| First of all, £1.8bn of the extra money due to the NHS in 2006-7 - about a third of the total increase - was held back. | First of all, £1.8bn of the extra money due to the NHS in 2006-7 - about a third of the total increase - was held back. |
| And regional managers working for strategic health bosses have also made cuts to central budgets, such as training, to build up a £450m contingency fund. | And regional managers working for strategic health bosses have also made cuts to central budgets, such as training, to build up a £450m contingency fund. |
| 'Excessive' cuts | 'Excessive' cuts |
| That is on top of the thousands of job losses that have been forced on NHS trusts - 17,000 in the past 12 months, according to the NHS Information Centre. | That is on top of the thousands of job losses that have been forced on NHS trusts - 17,000 in the past 12 months, according to the NHS Information Centre. |
| We now have a mind-boggling state of affairs in which individual organisations are in deficit, while the NHS as a whole has amassed a surplus Peter CarterRoyal College of Nursing Q&A: NHS finances Analysis: Balancing the books | We now have a mind-boggling state of affairs in which individual organisations are in deficit, while the NHS as a whole has amassed a surplus Peter CarterRoyal College of Nursing Q&A: NHS finances Analysis: Balancing the books |
| Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Cutting education and training and plundering public health budgets is not the way to manage the future of our NHS." | |
| And Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb added: "Tony Blair's true legacy on the NHS is one of boom and bust - two steps forward, one step back." | |
| NHS workers were also critical of the handling of the deficits. | |
| Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the figures exposed the "tragedy and farce of NHS finances". | |
| "We now have a mind-boggling state of affairs in which individual organisations are in deficit, while the NHS as a whole has amassed a surplus." | "We now have a mind-boggling state of affairs in which individual organisations are in deficit, while the NHS as a whole has amassed a surplus." |
| And Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants' committee, said the cuts had been "excessive". | And Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants' committee, said the cuts had been "excessive". |
| But Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said despite the "difficult year", the most recent surveys showed patients were more satisfied with the NHS. | But Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said despite the "difficult year", the most recent surveys showed patients were more satisfied with the NHS. |
| "If we had not taken action the NHS deficit would have been double [what it was]." | "If we had not taken action the NHS deficit would have been double [what it was]." |
| And NHS chief executive David Nicholson said: "We have been absolutely determined to get this right. | And NHS chief executive David Nicholson said: "We have been absolutely determined to get this right. |
| "We have not finished the journey, but we are well on the way to making it happen." | "We have not finished the journey, but we are well on the way to making it happen." |