North Bristol NHS Trust taken out of Financial Special Measures

North Bristol NHS Trust has been taken out of Financial Special Measures by NHS Improvement in recognition of its significant progress on financial performance.

The Trust was placed in Financial Special Measures last summer and set the task of making more than £8 million additional savings to meet a deficit of £44m in 2016/17.
With the support of NHS Improvement and the commitment of teams across the Trust this was achieved while ensuring that the quality of patient care was not affected.
North Bristol NHS Trust was one of several acute Trusts to be placed in Financial Special Measures last year and is the third to be removed from the process.
As part of the process NHS Improvement has set the Trust tough deficit controls for the next two years.
North Bristol NHS Trust Chief Executive, Andrea Young, said: “We are delighted that NHS Improvement has acknowledged the significant improvements we have made in our financial performance and taken us out of Financial Special Measures.
“It has been important for us to turn around our finances as an organisation while also maintaining our focus on providing exceptional patient care.
“We met our financial control total while also improving our performance against key national care standards such as cancer waiting times. We could not have achieved this without the hard work of staff across the organisation.
“We know there is still work to do in reducing the Trust’s deficit further and we are committed to working more efficiently in order to achieve this.”
Among the measures that were put in place to improve the Trust’s financial position were a reduction in the use of agency staff, with spending now among the lowest in the country and bringing in more robust purchasing and procurement processes.