Hospital trust finishes 2019 with £35m deficit

The United Lincolnshire Health Trust, which is still in financial special measures, was within its deficit target set for the end of the financial year.

Trust bosses say they expect to meet their target by April.

ULHT, which runs Lincoln and Boston hospitals, reported a deficit of £34.893 million at the end of 2019.

The trust agreed a target of £70.3 million with NHS Improvement for the end of the financial year.

Officials at ULHT said they hope to achieve the target in order to access further funding.

Paul Matthew, director of finance and digital at the trust, said the deficit was caused by rurality of the county, structural issues and the performance of the organisation.

“The trust is forecasting delivery of its control total despite seeing a rise in the number of patients attending our A&E departments who are acutely unwell compared to previous years,” he said.

“This has been reflected with additional financial support from Lincolnshire’s commissioners to help with this extra demand.

“The trust acknowledges that there is much scope for financial improvement and is working internally and with system and national partners to reduce the deficit by proactively managing demand on its services and reduce reliance on high cost, temporary staff.”