Trust in Tooting accused of risking patients (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Trust in Tooting accused of risking patients

9:27am Monday 22nd September 2003

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The health and safety of patients at Tooting’s St George’s Hospital is being put at risk by pressure to meet financial targets, it was claimed this week.

The allegations were raised at the annual meeting of St George’s Healthcare Trust on Tuesday, following the presentation of accounts.

The dispute began following the apparent good news delivered by acting director of finance Kevin Harbottle that the trust has managed to balance its books.

Mr Harbottle told attendees: “It has been a difficult year for the trust due to distribution of non-recurrent reserves, but the trust has achieved a small surplus of £280,000. Auditors accept these figures as a true and fair record.” The balance is remarkable in that just three months ago the trust’s own accounts suggested a projected deficit of more than £6million. It has been balanced thanks in large part to a grant from the South West London Regional Health Authority.

More alarmingly however, it was claimed that other savings have been made by using money from some of the hospital’s other budgets, including those used to maintain vital hospital equipment.

The hospital’s former director of finance Ian Perkin confronted the board’s chairman Catherine McLoughlin with figures from the trust’s own accounts in July, which reveal a marked decrease in the value of much of the hospital’s machinery. According to those figures, their value is just a quarter of their replacement cost, when they should be expected to be worth at least twice that amount.

The revelation echoes a warning last year from the hospital’s chief engineer, who said cuts in maintenance budgets were placing patients at risk. Earlier this summer his prediction was realised when operations had to be cancelled during the heat wave as ventilation systems in surgical theatres failed.

Revealing the figures to Ms McLoughlin, Mr Perkin said: “Under your disastrous leadership, all this has fallen into disrepair. You wish to present the problem with a view of St George’s that it is a white-wash.” Acting chief executive Peter Homa replied: “I can assure you that very early on, arrangements were put in place for a detailed survey of all aspects of the board.”

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