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03
Feb
Harrogate hospital trust facing £40m funding gap, chief executive warns
Harrogate hospital could be forced to reduce its services next year amid a funding gap, its chief executive has warned.
Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust which operates the hospital, said the trust could face a shortfall of around £40 million for 2026/27.
The organisation is currently in discussions with NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which commissions the hospital to deliver services.
Mr Coulter told a hospital board meeting last Wednesday (January 28) that the trust was facing a £20.8 million deficit for the end of the financial year and was now planning for next year.
He added that senior hospital officials were already in discussions with the ICB over its contract to deliver services for 2026/27.
Mr Coulter said:
The plan will meet the standards of reducing waiting times, making urgent care better and making cancer services better. It will be done within the resources that we should receive under the new financial planning framework.
However, he warned that currently there was a funding gap of around £40 million between what the trust needs and what the ICB may be able to provide.
Mr Coulter said he acknowledged that the ICB had an “affordability issue”, but added that it was time for “concrete proposals” on which services it would not be able to provide.
He told a trust board meeting that the agreement over the contract was the “route to financial balance sustainability” and it needed to reflect “the demands of services we are providing”.
Mr Coulter said:
That’s a big number [£40m] between what is needed to deliver the planned level of services that I think we all agree needs to happen and what’s on offer. There is an affordability issue for the commissioners and we’re not disputing that. But it’s how we get through that and work that through. It is going to be really challenging.
What we need to get are some concrete proposals on which services the commissioners don’t want us to provide.
The Stray Ferret has approached NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board for comment.
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