Northern Care Alliance faces fight to save £88m

ONE of the largest NHS trusts operating some of the biggest hospitals in Greater Manchester is being forced to make huge savings amid a multi-million pound deficit.

-  HELENA VESTY

The NHS trust has announced that it has opened a 'voluntary resignation scheme' but bosses deny this is a redundancy scheme, the M.E.N. can exclusively report.

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust (NCA) has a deficit of £46.5m, £37.5m worse than the planned deficit of just £9m for the year to date and growing, according to financial reports shared at the beginning of November. The trust is on a cost improvement plan to make savings of an eye-watering £87.8m.

The Northern Care Alliance is one of the most significant trusts in Greater Manchester and the north west, operating Salford Royal Hospital, the Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary, with approximately 20,000 staff. The trust says the 'voluntary resignation scheme, which is understood to have commenced this week, is not available to frontline clinical staff.

The figures come amid financial turmoil across the NHS system in Greater Manchester. The M.E.N. previously revealed how the overarching NHS body in the region, the Greater Manchester NHS Integrated Care System (ICS), had a deficit of £186.5m-up from £86.5m just four months ago. The ICS sits above the hospital trusts and is ultimately responsible for paying for, planning and delivering Greater Manchester's health and care needs, including most NHS services in the area.