A NUMBER of “financial risks” and “assumptions” are underpinning the Western Trust’s likelihood of breaking even at the end of March this year.


Although the Trust is currently on course to see out 2015/2016 in the clear, Financial Director Lesley Mitchell has stressed that this all hinges on a number of delicate “assumptions”, including that it will be able to deliver on it’s savings targets.


And considering the latest Financial Report reveals a deficit of almost £850,000 at the end of November, the need for all the Trust’s assumptions to become a reality has been made all the more crucial.
The Trust Delivery Plan had originally documented a projected year-end deficit of £3.8 million.


But as part of its work with the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) an agreement had been reached to provide one off temporary funding amounting to £3.8 million to allow the Trust to break even.
The Trust has had ongoing discussions with the HSCB regarding increasing costs for medical staffing and Looked After Children.
The HSCB has thrown the Trust another lifeline in the form of £1 million non-recurring funding to address these issues.


As a result the Trust says it is in the position to project a break even position at the end of the year -- but this is heavily dependent on: the delivery in full of the 2015/2016 savings plan (£11.4 million); any further unavoidable pressures within the financial year being managed within the budget; and income slippage amounting to £6 million being secured.


In her latest Financial Report, Director, Lesley Mitchell said “immediate action” was necessary from all her Director colleagues to ensure “they recover any savings shortfall”.


She said it was the HSCB’s expectation that the Trust would identify “recurrent solutions” to achieve recurrent balance by the end of March.
According to Ms. Mitchell, the Trust is off plan mainly due to under-delivery of the savings plan and increasing cost pressures.


“If the cost pressures and the slippage in the savings plan continue for the remainder of the financial year this may be a risk to the projected year-end break even position,” she warned in her report.
Overspend has been identified in acute services, primary care and older people services, women and children’s services and adult mental health and disability services.


By the end of November last year there was an overspend of £5.9 million in acute services alone.


This was mainly due to continued reliance on medical agency cover as a result of vacancies in Unscheduled Care and Anaesthetics in Altnagelvin and South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) as well as in nursing, where overspend is associated with managing risk and governance issues in the Emergency Department in SWAH.