Boss quits over cuts

King’s College hospital chairman resigns over NHS funding

BY TOBY PORTER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

The chairman of one of the capital’s biggest hospitals has quit over budget cuts forced on him by the government. Lord Kerslake announced he was stepping down as chairman of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Camberwell on Sunday.

The former head of the civil service said he was resigning in protest over what he claimed was the Government’s “unrealistic” approach to the huge challenges around funding.

The hospital was crucial in treating some of the victims injured in the Westminster Bridge attack in March and the London Bridge attack on June 3.

It also treated victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June. In his statement released on Sunday night, Lord Kerslake said: “I do not do this lightly as I love King’s but believe the Government and regulator are unrealistic about the scale of the challenge facing the NHS and the trust. I want to pay tribute to the staff and their excellent patient care.”

“I want to pay tribute to the staff and their excellent patient care.”

“King’s, like many other hospitals, is fighting against the inexorable pressures of rising demand, increasing costs of drugs and other medical supplies, and the tightest spending figures in recent times,” he wrote.

He added: “There are undoubtedly things that I and the trust could have done better, there always are, but fundamentally our problems lie in the way that the NHS is funded and organised. “We desperately need a fundamental rethink. “Until then we are simply ‘kicking the can down the road’.”

“With a heartfelt commitment to staff and patients, he has led King’s through a challenging period which has also seen some notable successes, our response to three major incidents in London, the launch of the helipad and delivering some of the highest patient outcomes of any Trust in the UK,” a statement added.

“We would like to express our deepest thanks to Lord Kerslake for his hard work and dedication not only to this trust but to the core values of the NHS, putting patients first.”

The hospital described Lord Kerslake as a “passionate advocate and champion” of the trust. A statement said: “With a heartfelt commitment to staff and patients, he has led King’s through a challenging period which has also seen some notable successes, our response to three major incidents in London, the launch of the helipad and delivering some of the highest patient outcomes of any trust in the UK,” a statement added.”

A KCH spokesman said: “Since his appointment as chairman of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Lord Kerslake has been a passionate advocate and champion of the Trust. With a heartfelt commitment to staff and patients, he has led King’s through a challenging period which has also seen some notable successes – our response to the three major incidents in London, the launch of the helipad and delivering some of the highest patient outcomes of any Trust in the UK.

“We would like to express our deepest thanks to Lord Kerslake for his hard work and dedication not only to this Trust but to the core values of the NHS – putting patients first.”