Hospital redundancies not ruled out THE secret report into the running of Scarborough Hospital will not be made public until the end of October, it was revealed today. However, Iain McInnes, the troubleshooter called in to help solve the hospital's financial crisis, has confirmed that wards will be closed and compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out.
Chief executive Alison Guy and finance officer Bernard Flynn were placed on extended "gardening leave" on July 11 after being accused of failing to take action to address concerns raised by the previous November's Audit Commission report.

Since then the hospital has been in "financial turn-around" with a team of Price Waterhouse Coopers accountants brought in to find ways of saving cash.

Mr McInnes said health chiefs were prepared to pay as much as £500,000 for the right financial advice.
Mr McInnes, in his first full interview with the Evening News, said any recommendations would have to be agreed by both the Strategic Health Authority and the Audit Commission before being made public and that could take several more weeks.

Board members at Scarborough Hospital have faced a number of serious challenges in recent months including:
* York Hospital's application for foundation trust status which the Evening News revealed contained references to take patients away from Scarborough Hospital either by "collaboration or competition"
* a multi-million-pound debt comprised of an accumulated deficit of £13.5 million and an in-year deficit now expected to exceed £9 million

* Audit Commission concerns about accounting and governance procedures which eventually led to Mrs Guy and Mr Flynn being placed on extended "gardening leave".

Leo McGory, chairman of the Public and Patient Involvement Forum which monitors Scarborough health trust, claimed staff morale at Scarborough Hospital was very low because employees were being kept in the dark about planned changes, did not know who was in charge or what the future might hold for them.
He said: "I have spoken to staff who have told me they only know what's going on because they read the reports in the Evening News.

"This whole episode is having a disturbing effect on the staff. It can't be right that they can only find out what's going on by reading the local paper."

Managers at York Hospital will hear whether its foundation status application has been successful next week.

Wards set to close WARDS in Scarborough Hospital will be closed and compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out as health chiefs struggle to balance the books. Iain McInnes, interim chief executive, said radical action would be needed to sort out the trust's forecast end of year deficit of £8,971,000.

He said: "Inaction is not an option, but all the measures we put in place will be for the benefit of patients."
Mr McInnes said the battle to sort out the trust's money worries would be fought on two fronts – at a "micro level" with ward sisters being asked not to hoard stocks of medical supplies and cut back on the amount of stationary used, and at a strategic level with changes to the way services at the hospital were delivered.

He said: "In some ways it's a case of look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
"If we can find 20 or more areas of hospital spending where the total amount of money we could save is relatively small, £60,000 or £70,000 for instance, the accumulative savings soon add up to millions."

Mr McInnes also said too many beds were being taken up by people who didn't really need to be in hospital.
He said: "Many of the services we currently supply should really be provided in the community and that is the direction we are going."

Accountants Price Waterhouse Coopers were brought in earlier this year to help hospital bosses identify areas of hospital spending where money could be saved.

The accountants recommended reducing the hospital bed stock by 20 to 40 beds by closing two wards.
This was expected to save the hospital £650,000 every year, with nursing staff being re-deployed to improve staff ratios on other wards.

However, when pressed by Leo McGory, chairman of the Public and Patient Involvement Forum, at a health trust board meeting for assurances that there would be no enforced redundancies, Mr McInnes said: "I would not have accepted this position if my hands had been tied in that way.

"At this point we do not believe that compulsory redundancies will be necessary, but you can never say never."

From nurse to trouble-shooter Iain McInnes "The Man with the AXE" Iain McInnes, the man parachuted in to sort out Scarborough health trust's cash crisis, began his NHS career in nursing.

He has since held clinical posts in learning disability, acute and community care services, including a brief period in nurse education before moving into general management.

He has worked in a range of clinical and management posts in Hull, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Manchester and Lincolnshire.

Mr McInnes has been married to Diane for 27 years and has two sons, a daughter – and two black Labradors.
One son and his daughter are at university, studying ocean sciences and history respectively, and his youngest son has just started A-levels.

Originally from Lochgilphead, in the West Highlands of Scotland, Mr Mcinnes told the Evening News: "I'm very pleased to be working somewhere nestled between the sea and the rugged countryside of the North York Moors.

"My home is in Louth, in Lincolnshire, which is a largely rural area and quite close to the sea – in many ways very similar to Scarborough except not quite as hilly."

When Mr McInnes is not working he enjoys travelling, especially in Europe; walking, which he says is necessary exercise with two Labradors, and the theatre, both viewing and taking part in amateur dramatics, including a lead role in an Alan Ayckbourn play with Louth Playgoers.

Mr McInnes, who is chief executive of Eastern Hull Primary Care Trust, says he has never worked for a health trust in financial difficulty where he hasn't been able to resolve the issue.

In Lincolnshire he was a member of management teams responsible for:
* establishing a second wave NHS trust
* introduction of GP contract changes and fund-holding
* design and implementation of a county wide acute service review and reconfiguration and
* was project director for trust merger process.

Mr McInnes is the lead chief executive for Hull's Children's Services and a director of the Connections Humber Board.
He also holds director positions on Hull City-care, an NHS Partnership, and Hull Alcohol and Drugs Service Boards.
He recently took part in the University of Durham European Health Executive Programme, which covered five countries and looked at health service organisation and funding, health policy, public health and the impact of the European community on the British health care system.