THE trust which runs Basingstoke hospital has slipped further into the red, following a challenging winter.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) is now running at a deficit of £4.4million for the financial year to date, compared to the predicted surplus of £1.3m, meaning the trust is now £5.7m behind its own financial plan.

Hugely increased staff costs are largely to blame for the slide into debt, with these currently £8.1m higher than they were last year.

Pay costs are six per cent higher compared to the same period last year, though staffing has only increased by three per cent.

In December, the trust brought in 40 agency staff to help cope with the influx of patients, at a cost of £400,000 – an average of £10,000 for each person to work the month.

Additional payments made to HHFT staff also increased hugely in December compared to the previous year, with HHFT paying an additional £90,000 to cover costs for overtime and increased rates for additional shifts.

It has also emerged that HHFT has been fined more than £1.1m so far for the year to date by local clinical commissioning groups (CGCs), after incurring financial penalties for missing targets relating to referral to treatment times, Emergency Department waiting times, ambulance handover times and other challenges.

The single biggest financial penalty incurred related to ambulance handover waiting times.

In December, a total of 139 cases of patients waiting for more than 30 minutes to be transferred from an ambulance were reported, with 71 occurring at Basingstoke, and 68 at Winchester. In 25 of these instances, patients were left waiting for more than one hour.

HHFT was fined £47,000 for the December breaches. The trust has also been fined £50,000 for breaching the referral to treatment 18-week target in December.

This is despite previous verbal assurances from local CGCs that it would not be liable to pay those fines.

In total, for the financial year to date, the trust has so far been fined £1,085,000 in contractual penalties.

Basingstoke hospital has in recent months been battling growing pressures, as record numbers of patients flood through the doors of the emergency department, and incidents of ‘bed-blocking’ have made it difficult for patients to be discharged.

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Basingstoke hospital in crisis situation

On the frontline in Basingstoke hospital's Emergency Department