Hospital bosses need to save '£9m a month'

HOSPITAL bosses in Newcastle face a battle to save £9m a month amid huge financial pressures.

- SAM VOLPE

A voluntary severance scheme has been launched while chiefs have asked staff for their ideas of how their jobs can be made more efficient, too.

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust acting chief executive Rob Harrison sent a stark email to all staff last week highlighting the scale of the issues faced.

Mr Harrison, who has been in charge since March, gave staff a "personal thank you" but added that there was a need to save £106m by the end of March 2026 in order to "get us into a much stronger financial position for future years".

This comes amid widespread NHS funding pressure - with organisations across the wider North East and North Cumbria region needing to make savings of more than £400m in the current financial year.

This comes a year after bosses at the trust which runs the Freeman and Royal Victoria Infirmary along with a range of community services had to plug a £80m deficit.

It did so, but now another year of savings are needed.

In his email, Mr Harrison wrote: "The culture of effort and pride in doing a good job is something I'm hoping will help with one of the biggest challenges we're now collectively facing - keeping a focus on safe, high-quality services, while managing our money more efficiently and effectively.