NHS reports surplus for financial year

The Department of Health has announced that the NHS is robust financially, reporting a 1,658 million pound surplus for the current fiscal year.

Surplus funds will remain within the health service to improve patient care, the department reports.

In 2006-07, the NHS reported a 515 million pound surplus, while it saw a 547 million pound deficit in 2005-06.

Gross deficit has fallen from 1,312 million in 2005-6 and 917 million in 2006-07 to a new figure of 122 million.

David Flory, director general of NHS finance, performance and operations at the Department of Health, said: “We can look back on 2007-08 with pride.

“The NHS was set up to meet the health needs of the population. Our performance in 2007-08 has shown that 60 years on, the NHS is still delivering on its commitment to provide the best quality care for all.”

He added that the “healthy surplus” shown by these figures show the stable financial footing of the health service.

Mr Flory added that as a result of the hard work by those in the NHS, there now exists the ability to invest in transforming patients services while retaining flexibility to respond to demand fluctuations.

Last week, the National Audit Office said that although 287 NHS organisations reported a gross surplus for 2006-07, 82 showed a gross deficit of 917 million pounds for the same period, with 80 per cent of the deficit from ten per cent of NHS bodies.