Ex-health chiefs attack funding

The trust is to axe 600 jobs to balance the books

Four former chairmen of a beleaguered NHS trust, which plans to slash 600 jobs to balance the books, have said patients face a "second class service".

Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust needs to save £15m.

Now four former chairmen have signed a letter blaming a "mismatch of funding" for the trust's financial plight.

The Department of Health said the NHS has received record funding levels and over this year and next. PCTs will have received an average increase of 19.5%.

The four former chairmen, Tom Pindar, Ashley Burgess, John Allen and Richard Grunwell, claim the situation is "unfair and unacceptable".

They said successive health authorities and the Department of Health did not address the financial problems over a number of years.

'Disparity in funding'

The authors of the letter said they had "considerable sympathy" with the present board.

The letter said: "Each of us has raised with successive health authorities the fundamental issue of disparity in funding; an issue which was acknowledged at the start of the trust, but has never been addressed."

The former chairmen added the region has particular problems, such as an ageing population which means costs are higher than in other areas.

The letter continued: "... since 1992 the trust has been allocated less income per patient from successive health authorities than any other acute trust in the region."

It said figures obtained from neighbouring trusts showed that for 2005 there was a disparity of more than £16m.

'Record levels'

"This points to a shortfall for our health economy of some £200m since the trust was formed in 1992," it says.

The Department of Health said in their statement: "The NHS has received record levels [of funding] and over this year and next, PCTs will have received an average increase of 19.5%.

"It is right that areas with higher needs and higher costs get more money to reflect that.

"But all patients get the same levels of service in the NHS; all treatment is delivered according to clinical needs; patients wait the same length of time for an operation and for a GP appointment; all patients get equally fast access to A&E, GPs, and hospitals.