Nottingham University Hospitals Trust requesting £16m in cash support

NUH, which runs Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre, discussed its operational and financial performance at a meeting on September 10.

NUH has relied heavily on Government support in recent years.

Finance officials said the requested cash would cover expenditure including staffing and suppliers, rather than any specific service.

NUH was awaiting NHS England’s response to its first £16m cash request for 2026/27.

In 2025-26, NUH received £124.9m from NHS England.

Auditors KPMG said its cash position remained ‘extremely challenging’ and questioned savings plans, including cutting six percent of the workforce, or 1,279 work time equivalent (WTE) roles.

By July, NUH was £17.7m off plan, with a £34.6m deficit.

Savings totalled £6.3m against a £7.1m target.

Chief financial officer Paul Matthew said further cash requests were expected during 2026=27 because overspending determined cash need.

Board members questioned NUH’s aim to eliminate corridor care in its emergency department by the end of September and across wards by October.

Chief operating officer Andrew Hall said corridor patients had ‘increased significantly’ during late August and early September.

Five summer heatwaves contributed to about a five per cent increase in ambulance conveyances and emergency admissions, alongside staff sickness and vacancies.

Bed occupancy was higher than anticipated, with 20 to 30 patients awaiting discharge for home care in the county area.

Non-executive director Prof Sunita Toor asked whether elimination remained credible.

Mr Hall said reaching zero emergency department corridor patients by September’s end was ‘still achievable’, although this excluded patients in nationally defined escalation spaces.

Interim chair Karen Tomlinson rejected the view that progress remained positive and said NUH could not fill gaps left by other organisations.

NUH plans to reduce its 20,000-strong workforce by 1,279 WTE roles and launched a voluntary redundancy scheme in July to cut about 130 administrative and clerical roles.

After the meeting, Mr Matthew said NUH remained financially challenged but committed to its plans, patient safety and target.

In a statement, the trust said: “We recognise our current position, which is in part impacted by higher demand than predicted through the summer months.

"Subsequently in September we have asked NHSE England for additional cash funds for the first time this financial year.

“This year we aim to address our financial savings of £106m through a transformation programme that will help us to improve how we work, reduce variation, make better use of our resources and invest in changes that will improve care and patient flow.

“While this comes with its challenges and risks, in particular during times of significant pressure like we have seen this summer and into winter, we remain completely committed to not only making those savings, but our long-term aim of improving our services and providing better value for money for taxpayers.

“Work has already started to double the size of our same-day emergency care unit and we are introducing a general internal medicine model to improve flow and patient experience in our hospitals.

“We are also working to further reduce our use of agency and bank staff and have launched targeted voluntary redundancy and mutually-agreed resignation schemes where we are making changes to the ways we work, offering colleagues as much choice as possible and minimising compulsory redundancies.”