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Policy described as “tone-deaf” by King’s Fund expert
NHS England has been criticised for its ‘tone-deaf’ attempts to maintain financial incentives on elective care, even as the service deals with extreme pressures from coronavirus.
As covid pressures fell over the summer, national finance chiefs issued new targets around elective activity, tied to financial penalties and rewards. NHSE has said it would apply fines “sensitively in the light of operational circumstances”.
The report said UHDB’s “half-year plan for October 2020 – March 2021 was a £10m deficit (including £3m assumed for penalties for not achieving [elective] activity targets.”
A separate report to the board meeting added: “Covid-19 inpatient demand continues to exceed our worst-case scenario… a downturn in elective activity is necessary to enable theatre staff to support the pressures of an expanded ICU on both sites this compounds an already challenging position in terms of backlogs an