Cuts are putting quality of care at risk, say NHS managers

A growing number of local NHS managers in England believe that the quality of care in their organisation is worsening as the effects of the drive to make £20bn (€23bn; $31bn) in NHS efficiency savings begin to bite, says the latest quarterly monitoring survey by the health think tank the King’s Fund.

The survey looked at service performance between October and December 2012, and for the first time it questioned directors of adult social services as well as NHS finance directors.1 All the 48 finance directors who responded (of 143 who were invited) were confident that they would balance their books this financial year, …