THE newly formed health system planning the future sustainability for NHS services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire is in deep financial trouble, according to recent research.

Health services in the two counties are now working together to produce a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) to show how services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years.

According to figures by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) some of the 44 new health systems for England could be in such deep financial trouble that they will struggle to plan their way out of deficit.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire faces an eight percent deficit, which is the third highest in England.

Only Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the West, North and East Cumbria fared worse.

Gloucestershire looks to be the only STP area where its NHS organisations are reporting a combined surplus.

Sarah Dugan, chief executive of Worcestershire Health and Care Trust and leader of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire STP, said: “I am confident that despite the significant challenges we face locally, we can develop and deliver a plan that will make significant progress towards an effective and sustainable health and care system across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, working with other areas where it is sensible to do so.”

Each area must develop a system-wide sustainability and transformation plan by June, setting out initiatives to manage demand, increase provider efficiency, reconfigure services and return to financial balance.

There have been concerns among organisations in relative financial health at now having to create a joint plan with others with huge deficits.

To produce the headline numbers, HSJ used financial performance data from the third quarter of 2015-16, set against allocations and income for specialised services in each CCG area. The figures do not include primary care budgets.

Anita Charlesworth, chief economist at the Health Foundation, said: “Not only have we got all but one of the STPs in deficit, but about a third have deficits of more than four percent of their turnover.

"Turning that sort of financial performance around when there are so many other underlying issues is an enormous if not impossible task."