The NHS made ‘a substantial amount of efficiency savings’ in 2011-12, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report published on 11 December. However the NAO says these savings will need to be ‘sustained and built on’ if the NHS is to generate its ‘target’ of up to £20 billion of savings in the four years to 2014-15.
The Department of Health has reported that the NHS achieved £5.8 billion of savings in 2011-12, ‘virtually all of the forecast total of £5.9 billion’ – with the majority generated through the public sector ‘pay freeze’, and reductions in the prices paid for healthcare by Primary Care Trusts. NHS bodies also made savings by cutting back office costs.
There is, however, the NAO says, ‘limited assurance that all the reported savings were achieved’ – because while PCT chief executives are required to confirm they are content with the accuracy of their savings data, the DH does not validate or gain independent assurance on the data reported. An NAO review of the Department’s analysis of national pay, activity, and other data, substantiated a total of £3.4 billion of NHS efficiency savings.
The NAO says it found that, ‘understandably’ the NHS has started by making the easiest savings first’. Although the savings made by NHS providers as a percentage of operating costs are increasing, it is ‘not clear what level of savings is sustainable over time’.
With the NHS seeking to maintain the quality of, and access to, healthcare while simultaneously making efficiency savings, the NAO says the NHS ‘performed well’ in 2011-2012 against headline indicators of quality, including waiting times and healthcare-associated infection rates. The NAO added: “The indicators focus mainly on hospital care, and the Department faces a significant challenge in monitoring quality across the NHS as a whole.”
