A WATCHDOG has found Basildon Hospital is breaching its licence by not having a realistic plan to recover its £20million deficit. 

An investigation by Monitor has found the trust has shortcomings in its financial management.

Monitor launched an investigation into the finances of the trust in December 2014 because of concerns over its financial position.

The investigation found that Basildon is breaching its licence to provide healthcare services on a sustainable basis by predicting a £20m deficit for 2014/15, and not having a realistic recovery plan.

The trust has agreed with Monitor that it will develop and implement a short-term recovery plan while the regulator carries out an assessment of the trust’s financial sustainability to identify how services for patients can be secured in the long-term.

In addition to these reviews, the trust has agreed with Monitor that it will commission an external review into its financial management to identify any failings that need to be fixed.

Monitor previously removed Basildon from special measures in June 2014 after the trust significantly improved the quality of its health services.

Laura Mills, Deputy Regional Director at Monitor, said: "We are pleased Basildon has agreed with us that it should take action to improve its finances and financial management, as we believe this is in the best interest of patients.

These steps should help the trust return to a stable financial footing.

However, we want the people of Basildon and Thurrock to receive quality healthcare services for the foreseeable future, so we are taking a closer look at the trust’s financial sustainability.

The regulator will monitor Basildon’s progress in making the required improvements and won’t hesitate to take further action if necessary.

The trust will be looking at how it can maintain its finances over the coming years - covering issues like productivity, efficiency and measuring costs against income for the services provided.

The trust has issued a statement saying the growing financial pressure is largely due to: a focus on improving the quality of services; an increasing demand for its services – especially A&E – without financial recognition; and the burden of having to employ expensive agency staff due to a national shortage of qualified doctors and nurses.

The vast majority of NHS hospitals are experiencing similar challenges.

Clare Panniker, BTUH chief executive, said: “It is no secret that our number one priority over the past two years has been to focus on improving the quality of care we deliver to our patients.

"This was absolutely the right thing to do. We know that our hospitals are now safer than they ever have been and we have been rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission.

“This has come at a cost – we have employed many more doctors and nurses – and like most of the NHS we are feeling the financial impact of the huge demand for our services, especially A&E and meeting the needs of growing demand on waiting lists."