Health Trust must spend capital cash - or lose it (From Western Telegraph)

Health Trust must spend capital cash - or lose it

Millions of pounds must be spent on health services across Pembrokeshire before a March 31st deadline, but it will do little to help the dozens of sick patients who have been waiting more than a year for operations.

The Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust is under pressure to spend £4.5 million before the end of this financial year or it will lose it.

This cash is in its capital budget - a pot of cash earmarked for replacing ageing medical equipment and for structural work, such as the improvements currently underway at the main entrance to Withybush Hospital.

It is years since the Trust has had such a big sum in reserve to spend on capital improvements but its stresses that the day-to-day running of the health service remains tight.

It is keen to point out that this years £78.5 million revenue budget - the money it relies on to run the Pembrokeshire health service - is entirely separate from the capital budget.

Patient waiting lists are falling, but a significant number have been waiting more than a year. The in-patient lists point to 34 people waiting over a year for general surgery and 124 for trauma and orthopaedic operations. Of the 4,249 out-patients awaiting surgery, 748 have been on the list for over six months.

But the Trust hopes a series of initatives will help reduce these numbers.

If it achieves these targets by the end of March, there will be no patients waiting 12 months or more - apart from those awaiting orthopaedic treatment where it wants to eliminate the numbers waiting more than 18 months.

The Trust aims to reduce its in-patient and day cases to 2,650 - below the Welsh Assembly target of 3,150.

The Trusts director of medical services, Dr Peter Jackson, describes the overall in-patient trend as promising, although the high level of emergency admissions could result in cancellations for pre-planned surgery.