Health Minister David Ashford has admitted that measures aimed at improving finances in his department had proven harder than anticipated to implement.

During the House of Keys sitting on Tuesday, Lawrie Hooper (LibVannin, Ramsey) renewed his questioning of finances in the Department of Health and Social Care, asking what savings were in place further to those set out in a ’sustainability’ report last year.

Mr Ashford said: ’It is common knowledge that the plans detailed in the sustainability document have proven more difficult to implement than first envisaged.

’That does not mean that the proposals outlined in there are any less relevant than originally envisaged, or that we should throw them aside into the too-difficult-to-do pile.

’We continue to push ahead to implement them to improve our financial performance.’

measures

New measures, he said, were being considered ’constantly’.

Not all changes were linked to the sustainability plan, he said, for example the reorganisation of Ramsey Cottage Hospital.

’The use of the word "savings" does not mean cuts to services or provisions,’ he added. ’The department is focused and committed to the delivery of efficiencies within existing services and ensuring that we can continue to provide the same standard of treatment for patients for less.’

But Mr Hooper was not impressed by the minister’s response and asked Mr Ashford what was being done to ’close the gap between the £5 million savings outlined in his cost-improvement plan and the £7 million or £8 million which will be needed to meet this year’s Budget target’.

One area of improvement, said Mr Ashford, was with the ’doubling up’ of consultants, to reduce the need for locum consultants. Other areas being looked included procurement processes and a medicines management strategy.

plans

Further plans would be presented, Mr Ashford said, but he refused to give a date by which he would unveil them.

’We are not going to rush decisions simply to give members some reassurance that something is on the table,’ he said. ’That is where things can go horribly wrong, particularly with a department where we are dealing with people’s health.

’It is absolutely crucial that things will be well thought through, and I am not going to apologise for the fact that these things do sometimes take time.’

During last month’s Budget debate, Mr Hooper argued that, although on the face of it, the DHSC had been given a larger budget, in reality it was having finances cut. When supplementary votes for additional spending were taken into account, the ’probable spend’ for 2017/18, was expected to reach £218m, compared with £216m proposed for 2018/19.