A host of NHS trusts received bailouts totalling more than £1 billion in the last six years, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has shown.

The Department of Health was forced to issue four struggling foundation trusts and 17 other trusts the money between 2006 and 2012 to pay creditors and staff.

Amyas Morse, Head of the NAO, said that it was clear “parts of the service are under strain.”

Research found that South London Healthcare NHS Trust – which recently became the first to go into administration – needed a total of £356m from the DH to break even over the last six years. It has yet to pay back the money.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust also required £195m from the DH to cover its debts.

Last year, trusts needed £253m from the DH, the report found – a huge increase from the £76m requested between 2010 and 2011.

The NAO now estimates that NHS trusts and foundation trusts will need approximately £300m more in bailouts next year to cover ailing finances – despite a surplus of £2.1bn across the NHS.

Meanwhile, official figures from the Department of Health showed that ten NHS hospital trusts recorded deficits last year.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals was £19m in the red, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare ended with a £6m deficit, Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust ended up with £2m debts and Newham University Trust recorded losses of £200,000.

Hospital trusts in the capital struggled to control finances more than any other part of the country with the region finishing £96m in the red overall.

Sir David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, said the “demands of an ageing population and increased costs owing to developments in drugs and advancing medical technologies present challenging financial conditions in a constrained economic environment.”

He added that “all parts of the NHS” will need to take “bold, long-term measures” to meet financial challenges.

The NHS in England spends 10% less per patient than health services in other UK countries, according to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report.

There are also fewer nurses, midwives and healthcare visitors per 100,000 people in England than in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, and only the former pay prescription charges.

However, life expectancy is highest in England, and average hospital stays for acute care are shortest.

The first official report comparing health systems across the UK shows that the impact of austerity measures on healthcare spending has been deeper in England than in Scotland or Wales.

The NAO report’s findings include the following (for 2008-2010):

A DH spokesman commented: “England spends less per person on health care than Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales but has similar if not better health outcomes.”

However, differences in underlying health demographics and care pathways mean that comparisons are not straightforward.

For example, while the figures suggest that recent cuts in Welsh healthcare spending may have affected services, it is difficult to correlate the relatively low life expectancy in Scotland with any health service metric.

A host of NHS trusts received bailouts totalling more than £1 billion in the last six years, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has shown.

The Department of Health was forced to issue four struggling foundation trusts and 17 other trusts the money between 2006 and 2012 to pay creditors and staff.

Amyas Morse, Head of the NAO, said that it was clear “parts of the service are under strain.”

Research found that South London Healthcare NHS Trust – which recently became the first to go into administration – needed a total of £356 from the DH to break even over the last six years. It is yet to pay back the money.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust also required £195 by the DH to cover its debts.

Last year, trusts needed £253m from the DH, the report found – a huge increase from the £76m requested between 2010 and 2011.

The NAO now estimates that NHS trusts and foundation trusts will need approximately £300m more in bailouts next year to cover ailing finances – despite a surplus of £2.1bn across the NHS.

Meanwhile, official figures from the Department of Health showed ten NHS hospital trust recorded deficits last year.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals was £19m in the red, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare ended with a £6m deficit, Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust ended up with £2m debts and Newham University Trust recorded losses of £200,000.

Hospital trusts in the capital struggled to control finances more than any other part of the country with the region finishing £96m in the red overall.

Sir David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, said the “demands of an ageing population and increased costs owing to developments in drugs and advancing medical technologies present challenging financial conditions in a constrained economic environment.”

He added that “all parts of the NHS” will need to take “bold, long-term measures” to meet financial challenges.

A host of NHS trusts received bailouts totalling more than £1 billion in the last six years, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has shown.

The Department of Health was forced to issue four struggling foundation trusts and 17 other trusts the money between 2006 and 2012 to pay creditors and staff.

Amyas Morse, Head of the NAO, said that it was clear “parts of the service are under strain.”

Research found that South London Healthcare NHS Trust – which recently became the first to go into administration – needed a total of £356 from the DH to break even over the last six years. It is yet to pay back the money.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust also required £195 by the DH to cover its debts.

Last year, trusts needed £253m from the DH, the report found – a huge increase from the £76m requested between 2010 and 2011.

The NAO now estimates that NHS trusts and foundation trusts will need approximately £300m more in bailouts next year to cover ailing finances – despite a surplus of £2.1bn across the NHS.

Meanwhile, official figures from the Department of Health showed ten NHS hospital trust recorded deficits last year.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals was £19m in the red, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare ended with a £6m deficit, Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust ended up with £2m debts and Newham University Trust recorded losses of £200,000.

Hospital trusts in the capital struggled to control finances more than any other part of the country with the region finishing £96m in the red overall.

Sir David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, said the “demands of an ageing population and increased costs owing to developments in drugs and advancing medical technologies present challenging financial conditions in a constrained economic environment.”

He added that “all parts of the NHS” will need to take “bold, long-term measures” to meet financial challenges.

The Care Quality Commission has experienced “serious difficulties” in its first 18 months, according to a National Audit Office report.

The NAO said the regulator had “struggled” to fulfil its role due to NHS instability, making only half of the hospital inspections it had planned.

However the CQC was “now taking action to improve its performance”, the report concluded.

The new inspection body replaced the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission in October 2010.

The NAO noted that the abrupt shift had caused “disruption for providers and confusion for the public”.

By April 2011 the CQC had carried out only 53% of its planned inspections of hospitals and care homes, and had not met its schedule for registering care providers.

The organisation suffered from lack of staff, the review said: after a year, 14% of its positions – including 100 inspector posts – were unfilled due to Government restrictions on recruitment.

Its failure to identify patient mistreatment and neglect at a residential care home near Bristol was also criticised.

Both the DH and the CQC itself were to blame for the regulator’s failings, the NAO concluded.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, commented: “The CQC has had an uphill struggle to carry out its work effectively and has experienced serious difficulties. It is welcome that it is now taking action to improve its performance.

He added: “The commission and the Department of Health should make clear what successful regulation of this critical sector would look like.”

The DH is currently reviewing the CQC; its findings will be published later this year. Margaret Hodge, Chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, called the NAO’s report “deeply worrying”.

NHS diabetes services in England are failing to deliver adequate care and allowing too many patients to develop complications, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said.

The NAO estimates that the NHS spent £3.9bn on diabetes services in 2009–10, but only half of patients received the recommended standards of care.

It recommends only paying GPs for diabetes care if they provide all nine relevant care processes, including a range of tests.

According to the NAO report, the achievement of treatment standards and expected levels of care for diabetes is poor, with no PCT delivering adequate care to all its diabetes patients.

Only half of people with diabetes received the recommended standards of care in 2009–10, though this is an improvement on the 36% achieved in 2006–07.

Fewer than one in five people with diabetes are receiving the recommended tests to measure blood glucose, blood pressure and blood cholesterol.

The NAO states that the variation in the quality of care received by people with diabetes “cannot be explained by need or spending alone and is likely to be influenced by the local organisation and management of health services”.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “The expected 23% increase by 2020 in the number of people in England with diabetes will have a major impact on NHS resources unless the efficiency and effectiveness of existing services are substantially improved.”

Among the NAO’s recommendations are:

• GPs should only be paid for diabetes care if they deliver all nine of the recommended care processes, including tests for complications and risk factors.

• The NHS Commissioning Board should “introduce effective systems of governance and accountability” to minimise inequalities in diabetes care.

NHS hospitals are wasting hundreds of millions of pounds each year on basic supplies and other products, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.

The procurement of consumables by NHS acute and Foundation Trusts revealed that at least £500 million a year is spent on unnecessary administrative costs due to multiple small orders.

Amyas Morse, Head of the National Audit Office, said at least 10% of spending on consumables could be reduced if “trusts got together to buy products in a more collaborative way”.

Hospital trusts have complete freedom to decide what and how they buy from either regional procurement hubs, NHS Supply Chain or direct from suppliers.

The NAO found that trusts bought 21 different types of A4 paper, 652 types of medical gloves and 1,751 different cannulas. The report also highlighted the variation between trusts, with one purchasing 13 different types of gloves, whilst another bought 177 different types.

If just four items were bought in bulk, the NAO says around £7 million in administration costs could be saved each year if orders were replicated by the top 25% of trusts.

Today’s report points out that with no central control over Foundation Trusts, the Department of Health cannot mandate more efficient procurement practices.

“In the new NHS of constrained budgets, trust chief executives should consider procurement as a strategic priority,” said Amyas Morse.

“Given the scale of the potential savings which the NHS is currently failing to capture, we believe it is important to find effective ways to hold trusts directly to account to Parliament for their procurement practices.”