Minister blamed for NHS crisis

Dec 13 2006 By Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

Patricia Hewitt (100)

A COMMITTEE of MPs will today slap down Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt for blaming hospital managers for the NHS cash crisis, insisting her department is largely at fault.

A report by the health select committee says the sky-high cost of new contracts for GPs and consultants, agreed by ministers, have contributed to ballooning financial deficits.

It condemns the Department of Health (DoH) for its "hopelessly unrealistic" underestimate of the cost of higher pay and for imposing "expensive" targets, such as casualty waiting times.

Even where local financial management had been poor, the DoH was guilty of "shifting the financial goal posts late", the report said.

Last month, Ms Hewitt caused a storm when she claimed NHS trusts with crippling debts, which include three in Merseyside and Cheshire, were guilty of recruiting too many doctors and nurses.

But today's report concludes: "Poor central management has contributed to the deficits.

"The Government's estimates of the cost of Agenda for Change and the new GP and consultant contracts proved to be hopelessly unrealistic.

"Government targets, such as the four-hour A&E target, have been expensive to meet and have had unintended consequences which have imposed additional costs."

The report also criticises the DoH for focusing on the relatively low number of compulsory redundancies - fewer than 1,000 across England - in explaining the effects of cutbacks.