Hospitals in England to get individual savings targets

[annie]

Hospitals in England are being given their own individual savings targets as part of a drive to save money.

The figures are being sent to 137 hospital trusts by Lord Carter, who has been appointed by the government to improve efficiency in the NHS.

He will spend the next six weeks meeting hospital bosses to discuss the targets, before they are made public.

In June, Lord Carter's report on the NHS identified a number of measures it said could save £5bn a year by 2019-20.

Lord Carter came to that figure after spending a year working with 22 hospitals.


He found a wide variation in spending across medicines, everyday items, such as dressings and syringes, and on facilities such as heating.
His review also said major savings could be made through better staff rotas and management of training and annual leave.

There were also wide differences in the cost of common operations, such as hip replacements, and infection rates.

He has now broken down the savings by speciality. The process has enabled Lord Carter to benchmark what each hospital should be doing in each department.

The biggest savings were identified in general medicine, followed by obstetrics and gynaecology


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34586651

[maureenho]

They could save a lot more if they charged non British people for their treatment.