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01
Oct
Harrogate hospital trust 'under-resourced', says chief executive
The trust which runs Harrogate hospital is “under-resourced”, according to its chief executive.
Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said the trust made the assessment as part of its planning for services next year.
It comes as NHS bodies are required to report to local commissioners, which fund hospitals for the services they provide, over whether they feel they have enough resources for the level of work that is done.
In a report to the trust’s board, Mr Coulter said the organisation was “under-resourced for the work that we do”.
The Stray Ferret asked the trust to clarify how the hospital was under-resourced and whether it was confident that the Integrated Care Board, which funds health services, would provide it with additional resources.
A spokesperson for the trust said:
Since the covid pandemic, the range of services we have been asked to undertake by commissioners has grown significantly. As part of the national planning process, all organisations are undertaking an assessment considering whether they are financially under-resourced for the increased level of work that is done.
Our assessment indicated that we are financially under-resourced. This is not a surprise given our strong position in relation to the care we provide our patients and the productivity we achieve when compared with other organisations.
The spokesperson added that it would be sharing its assessment with the ICB and the regional NHS "shortly".
Harrogate District Hospital.
League table
Mr Coulter warned that Harrogate District Hospital's financial deficit was affecting its position in the new NHS league table.
The trust is currently reporting a £7.4 million overspend, according to recent board papers, and sits 35th out of 134 acute hospital trusts in the NHS rankings.
As part of the league table, trusts are sorted into four 'segments', the first of which reflects the best performers and the last listing the worst. They are then given an overall score based on the 30 metrics. A lower score denotes a higher-performing trust.
According to the league table, Harrogate has an average score of 1.96 and falls into the third segment of trusts.
However, Mr Coulter said in his report that the organisation’s financial deficit will mean the trust will struggle to climb the table.
He said:
The fact though that we currently have a financial deficit, means that we cannot be better than a three overall, and this influences where we can be in the national league table.
Mr Coulter added:
As we know, it is clear that one of our immediate challenges is to remove the need for deficit support funding and ensure that our strong productivity is reflected in our underlying financial position and contracts going forward into 2026/27.
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