FINANCE: The foundation has identified the potential introduction in its area of local tariff prices for critical care as a “key income risk”, its draft plan for 2011-12 shows.

The document, prepared for the specialist cancer trust’s April board meeting, said that the “potential” introduction of a “local generic tariff” for critical care would not take effect before 2012-13.

It warned it was possible that this tariff could differ “significantly from the basis on which the trust’s tertiary oncological critical care unit was initially set up and funded”.

The financial impact this would have was “potentially significant depending on tariff agreed with commissioners”.

It added that the foundation was “seeking transitional support” to mitigate the potential impact of the price changes.