POOR quality of care is costing the cash-strapped NHS millions of pounds a year, according to the head of a review into the efficiency of healthcare.

Professor Tim Briggs, national director of clinical quality and efficiency, said the service wastes too much money on poor care.

Southend and Basildon hospitals have been repeatedly on black alerts over the last two years and have struggled to fill financial black holes.

Neil Rothnie, medical director and deputy managing director at Southend Hospital, which currently has a deficit of £3,561,000, said: “We, along with our colleagues at Basildon Hospital, are actively involved in Professor Briggs’ “Getting it Right First Time” initiative, working with national teams within our hospitals. This programme is led by frontline clinicians and was created to help improve the quality of medical and clinical care within the NHS.

“We do not have a significant issue with patients experiencing delayed transfers of care at Southend. We work closely with our colleagues in the community to arrange complex discharges for around 15 patients in the hospital at any one time. “As we continue to make improvements to the way we work, fewer patients having surgery need to stay in hospital overnight. This allows us to use our wards and beds more efficiently.”

Mr Briggs said the NHS needs to put its “house in order” and improve standards before it can justify asking central Government for more cash. He said: “I do not think at the moment we deserve more money until we put our house in order and we actually make the changes that will improve the quality of care.

“If you could get the infection rate across the country down to 0.2 per cent just in hip and knee replacements, you’d save the NHS £250million each year, just by improving the quality of care.”

Professor Briggs’ audit revealed hundreds of thousands of patients are needlessly being admitted to emergency surgery beds. It reported this and bed-blocking are among the greatest wastes of money in hospitals.