City's hospitals facing £80m shortfall

A city's hospitals are facing a £80m financial black hole, according to an NHS trust chief.

Health leaders were told Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation, which runs the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary and Freeman Hospital, had major money problems.

The trust's chief executive, Sir James Mackey, said planned cost cuts for the next 12 months would still leave an estimated £30m deficit.

A trust spokesperson said redundancies were not currently being considered.

Sir James told Newcastle City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board on Wednesday that the trust had been at risk of running out of money in September 2023, if it had continued at its previous rate of spending.

He said the organisation had an “underlying financial problem of about £80m”.

A trust spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service savings would be made by removing waste and getting better value for money on contracts.

Earlier this year, the trust was downgraded from "outstanding" to "requires improvement" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The report outlined serious bullying concerns.

Sir James told the board he would be meeting the CQC on 24 April, where he hoped to present them with evidence of improvements.

He said: “There is a lot happening very quickly – five years’ worth of change in a year.

"It feels very rushed and pressured. We are very keen to get out of this position as quickly as we can.”

Follow BBC Newcastle on X (formerly Twitter), external, Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to [email protected].