Hospital trust ends year with £47k surplus despite challenges

University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust (UHNM) was also facing a surge in demand for services and the impact of the Covid pandemic earlier this year – but ended 2022/23 with a £47,000 surplus.

The result was reported at the hospital trust’s annual meeting on Wednesday.

Details of more than £60m investment in services and facilities was also given.

Board chairman David Wakefield and UHNM’s chief executive Tracey Bullock said in the annual report: “We are proud that throughout the year we continued to invest and, once again, we spent over £63m on capital equipment, including the launch of Orbeye, which allows surgeons a 3D view of brains and spines, new CT scanners, refurbishment of wards, frontline digitalisation, Cyber Security, replacement of older medical equipment and the next phase of project STAR, our new planned multi-story car park. Over the past three years alone we have invested over £170m on capital expenditure on both replacing essential medical equipment and on innovative technologies which will both improve our services to patients and enhance our reputation as a leading teaching hospital.

“We must, as in previous years, highlight the magnificent contribution of £3m to these schemes received from our UHNM Charity. This level of donation makes a massive difference and we greatly appreciate the efforts of everyone involved – and the donors of course.

“On the financial front, we again balanced our books and delivered a breakeven position. Given the turmoil experienced during a quite exceptional year we can only say thank you to everyone involved and to those who ensured that we invested wisely.”

Mark Oldham, the trust’s chief finance officer, told the meeting a balanced budget had been set for 2023/34, but said the year ahead was set to be challenging. “We have a £55m cost improvement programme, compared to £19m last year.

“We are forecasting, in a best case scenario, we will get there. It is really important that as well as delivering great patient care, we live within the resources we have got.”

The first few months of the latest financial year have already proved costly to the trust, which runs Royal Stoke University Hospital and Stafford’s County Hospital. In July it was reported the trust was facing a financial deficit of £3.8m, after incurring costs from the junior doctors’ strikes and winter escalation capacity remaining open in April and May.

The annual report said: “The surplus for 2022/23 continues to demonstrate substantial progress has been made to stabilise our position and to develop a new culture of financial rigour and operational efficiency, through strengthened financial controls. However, it should be noted that the position relied heavily on non-recurrent Cost Improvement Programme delivery and other one-off benefits and we will need to focus on recurrent cost control and efficiency programmes to ensure long term financial sustainability.”