NHS providers face mounting financial and staffing pressures

NHS providers face mounting financial and staffing pressures NHS providers are worrying how to keep the quality of patient care high as resources are squeezed.

NHS foundation trusts (FT) and NHS trusts are facing the broadest range of challenges for more than a generation including dealing with an ever tighter budget and rapidly rising demand. With NHS England warning of an "even more challenging" financial year than 2013-14, how did NHS providers end last year and what shape are they in to deliver the changes needed to make the NHS clinically and financially sustainable?

The last fortnight has seen the publication of year end reports from Monitor for NHS Foundation Trusts and the Trust Development Authority for NHS Trusts. They identify four trends: "very significant financial pressure", a rapid, largely unfunded, growth in staff numbers, good operational performance with some growing concerns, and a pessimistic outlook. Continue reading... The Guardian