THE Primary Care Trust that runs healthcare in Harrogate is on track to pay off the remainder of its £48m debt by March next year, its chief executive has said.
A week after North Yorkshire and York PCT was criticised by the Audit Commission for failing to attain minimum standards in managing its finances, it confirmed that its current deficit now stands at just £6.7m.
But Penny Wilson-Webb from the Rarer
Cancers Forum has accused the PCT of failing to meet the needs of some patients.
"Paying off this deficit has clearly had a massive impact," she said.
"Patients are suffering as the trust is having to claw back this money."
Live saving drugsA survey published by the forum in August showed that the PCT had refused 35 per cent of applications for life saving drugs in the previous 20 months, compared to just 17 per cent in Leeds and none in Wakefield.
At the time, medical director Dr David Geddes said health service funding was limited, adding: "Whilst the PCT invests significantly in funding for specialist treatments, the demand on this budget is extremely high and the PCT does not, therefore, routinely fund treatments that are as yet to be fully evaluated."
North Yorkshire and York PCT inherited a debt of £48m when it took over from Craven, Harrogate and Rural District PCT in October 2006.
By April this year, it had cut that figure to £18m. The debt now stands at £6.7m.
See this week's Harrogate Advertiser for moreThe full article contains 262 words and appears in Harrogate Advertiser newspaper.
