NHS in East plans £155m savings

The package of measures aims to save £155m

Plans to move people out of hospital beds quicker and reduce out-patient follow-ups have been backed to help the NHS in the East save £155m.

The East of England Strategic Health Authority's (SHA) board heard a faster bed turnover could save £54m while cutting the follow-ups would save £52m.

It would also save £24m by moving patients on to cheaper non-patent protected anti-cholesterol drugs.

In addition it aims to cut the region's £291m training budget by £25m.

The meeting backed plans, revealed by the BBC this week, for a radical review of health services which could see many of the eastern region's district hospitals downgraded or even closed.

The SHA wants to look at centralising some clinical services in one "super" hospital rather than providing the care in several district hospitals.

Using beds well

It will also look at cutting the number of sites providing emergency care.

Dr Paul Watson, director of commissioning for the SHA, told the BBC he could not rule out the downgrading or even closure of any of the 19 hospitals in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Dr Watson said he believed the £155m of savings could realistically be achieved without hurting frontline care.

He said increasing bed turnover was "not about sending patients home before they are ready. It is about using hospital beds as well as we can. If we manage the patient stay well, they will get home quicker".

Dr Watson said clinical evidence has found the non-patent protected anti-cholesterol drugs are just as effective as the more expensive patent drugs.

"It is not ethical to spend more money on treatment than we need to," he said.

For more on Health in the East see the Politics Show on BBC East at 1200 BST on Sunday 17 September.