Sep 17 2011
Many failing NHS hospitals across the UK will be bailed out by the taxpayer in a £5 billion rescue mission, according to a leading figure.
Tony Blair's former health adviser Prof Paul Corrigan says that up to 40 trusts do not have enough money and therefore will need radical action to succeed.
In a report published by the Reform think tank, the professor argues that the NHS hospitals must either change the way they operate, close down or ask to be rescued by the Government.
Mr Corrigan claims that in order for the hospitals to survive under financial pressures, the trusts need to develop new models where they specialise in a particular field rather than do everything, that being either patient diagnostic or treatment.
The report further advices that rather than being kept in expensive wards, patients are treated in the community or at home using new technologies. The article states that hospitals have become "static islands" and that too many in the NHS are diluting quality of care.
Many trusts have "unsustainable business models" and Corrigan estimates that 30 will never balance their books. Lord Crisp, the former chief executive of the NHS, made similar remarks recently.