ROTHERHAM: Government writes-off £57.5 million debt for Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

It comes as part of plans to scrap £13.4 billion of NHS debt across England.

Alexander Stafford, Conservative MP for Rother Valley, said he was ‘delighted’.

He said: “This will help put NHS hospitals, mental health and community services across Rother Valley in a stronger position not only to deal with coronavirus in the short term, but on a stable footing in the long term as well.

“The government is committed to doing whatever it takes to tackle coronavirus – and this announcement will the NHS the financial certainty it needs to respond to the pandemic and help save lives.”

The debt cancellation was widely interpreted as being in response to the coronavirus outbreak but the Health Service Journal reported last week that it was under discussion prior to the pandemic.

Struggling NHS providers have become increasingly reliant on loans from the Department for Health and Social Care to balance their day-to-day budgets or their capital budgets, which fund infrastructure projects.

Under the new rules set out in a letter to all NHS trusts, hospitals needing extra cash will be given equity, rather than borrowing from the government and repaying a loan.

Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said: “We’ve advocated for and support this pragmatic move which will put NHS hospitals, mental health and community services in a stronger position – not just to respond to the immediate challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic, but also in the years ahead to deliver widespread improvements set out in our NHS Long Term Plan.”

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