NHS trusts handing over £205m a year to the Government in interest payments as debts mount

[Northerner]

NHS trusts are handing over more than £205m a year to the Government in interest payments after being forced to take out loans, i can reveal.

Critics accused the Conservatives of “starving the NHS” by charging unreasonable interest rates on the loans they make to hospitals and other organisations which are struggling to afford their running costs.

Trusts across England have paid more than £607m to Whitehall in interest over the past five years. The amount paid out is rising every year as NHS debts continue to mount; last year it could have paid the salaries of 7,500 nurses.

The interest goes into the general budget of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) instead of being spent directly on NHS services. Trusts can request loans from the department if they face a shortfall in funding day-to-day operations or capital investments. The Government charges interest of up to 6 per cent on the loans. This summer it emerged that the total debt owed by NHS trusts stands at more than £14bn after years of austerity.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/nhs-trusts-bill-interest-payments-government-debts-mount/

 

[nonethewiser]

That's a few hospital beds that could be filled, surely the interest rate could be lower or not applied at all.

 

[Northerner]

That's a few hospital beds that could be filled, surely the interest rate could be lower or not applied at all.

All accounting jiggery-pokery Government claims to give £xxx millions to the NHS, then takes a chunk of it back 🙄

 

[mikeyB]

This is all Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s fault. That’s how they magicked up the money to staff the hospitals.

The interest payments don’t go anywhere near the government, it’s private financiers. That’s the P in PFI.