Sandwiches and salads off the menu as NHS battles cash crisis

Sandwiches and salads off the menu as NHS battles cash crisis Sandwiches and salads are off the menu at cash-strapped NHS hospitals as trusts attempt to put off paying bills until the new financial year.

Suppliers to hospitals have abandoned contracts after senior managers failed to persuade them to wait months for outstanding payments to be made.

Other NHS trusts are delaying payments in a desperate bid to reduce their deficit by the end of this financial year.

Last year the health service declared the worst deficit in its history - at £2.45bn - and the current winter crisis is fuelling extra spending on agency staff. The Daily Telegraph