It is not sensible nor practical to have absolute budgets for hospitals as they have to react to events, and do not have control over all the patients and situations that they have to deal with. So their budgets should be flexible to a degree (+-15%?), with a degree of contingency planning. This latest problem is not the over-spend, which does need to be looked at, but the panic reaction to it. Operations cancelled, staff in confusion, etc. All completely avoidable, and for which the HSSD Board should be censured. The other interesting fact to emerge is the reaction of Southampton, who gave a significant reduction in charges to keep the business. This indicates that we were paying too much initially, and we should be able to bargain for a better deal in the future. Hopefully this will lead to a more sensible and practical approach to the way the finances of HSSD are budgeted and managed. The sad thing is the way the weaknesses have come to light. The good thing has been the response of the clinical staff, who operated on me last week, even though I had to call on the Monday to confirm that they were operating on me at 13.30 that afternoon. Which they did.
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
