Annual Report 2006/07 - Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital

Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report 2006/07
Operating & Financial Review
The Royal Devon & Exeter NHSFT has now
completed its third year of operation as
an NHS Foundation Trust. During the year, the
position from a surplus of £0.5m achieved in
2005/06 to a surplus of £2.9m in 2006/07.
The achievement of this outturn is set against
including changes in the methodology of funding,
reductions in central allocations from the
pressures across the local health community. In
spite of these challenges the Trust has delivered
all of its key targets and retained an overall
provided for an improvement in the overall
position from a surplus of £0.5m in 2005/06 to
a surplus of £2.4m in 2006/07. At the year-end
the Trust achieved a surplus of £2.9m.
maintain the ability to respond to unforeseen
changes as, unlike traditional NHS trusts,
NHS Foundation Trusts cannot obtain external
is retained by the Trust and may be reinvested
in improvements to services and/or additional
capital spending, or retained to offset future
The Trust has continued to implement the four-
programme of work targeted at areas where
improvements can be achieved despite the
of potential savings over a three-year period. The
with the initial £3m being achieved in-year, and
further savings coming on-stream in future years.
This programme will continue to be rolled out
with a target of delivering at least £5m of savings
each year. The Trust has continued to develop
operation. This approach will not only guarantee
but will also ensure a sustainable programme
of change into the future to deliver long-term
the programme into the daily operation of the
Trust’s workings it is now seen as essential
ongoing work, rather than merely as a short-term
During the year the Trust completed work on the
new Diabetes, Endocrinology and Vascular Health
Critical Care facilities. The building and
commissioning of the new state-of-the-art Centre
for Women’s Health, which will replace the
Neonatal, Maternity and Gynaecology facilities
currently housed at Heavitree Hospital, is now
almost complete and work has commenced on
other new developments including an expansion
of radiotherapy facilities, the endoscopy
department and mortuary facilities.
Future Outlook
The Payment by Results funding system
introduced into the NHS in 2001 has undergone
extensive and continuous development, resulting
received on a year-by-year basis. This has led to
great uncertainty, making any sort of medium-
‘price list’, has frequently been published late
to reach agreement on work to be undertaken
in any given year. In recognition of this, the
Department of Health committed itself to
publishing the new tariff well in advance of the
taking place year to year in order that a greater
element of stability could be achieved. The
tariff price list for 2007/08 has largely been
restricted to increasing the tariff rates from
2006/07 by 2.5%, with only marginal changes
to the scope of the system overall. For the
publication with minimal changes in scope has
led to the negotiation of the Trust’s contract
of starting the new year knowing exactly what
commitments they are entering into.
number of patients requiring treatment as the
Trust heads towards achieving the Government’s
target of ensuring that all patients do not wait
any longer than 18 weeks from the time they are
referred by their GP to when their treatment
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