Mid Yorkshire Hospitals trust faces steep savings battle

A hospital trust given a £77m financial rescue package this year will face considerable challenges to break even over the next few years, a confidential report has revealed.

The management consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers' report into the finances of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals trust was released after a Freedom of Information request by The Yorkshire Post.

The trust would have to deliver savings "at the high end" of those achieved by other trusts to meet its £70.4m target over five years, reveals the report, which was written in September 2007 - before agreement of the £77m deal. When "sensitivities" are included - full details of which have not been released - it would have to make average annual savings of 5.3 per cent.

Challenging targets

It would achieve a minimal overall surplus for 2007-08 to 2011-12 subject to achieving "some very challenging targets", it says.

Trust finance director Tony Waite said the trust, which had a surplus of £767,000 in 2007-08, had made £16m in pay savings over the last two years.

"The scale of financial challenge facing the trust is well known and understood," he said.