Trust reveals aims to boost patient care and cut costs

Reducing patients’ length of hospital stay and providing care closer to home are among hospital chiefs’ aims to save money this year.

The initiatives were suggested as the trust in charge of Rochdale Infirmary revealed it spends £1.5 million a day on its four hospitals.

The Pennine Acute Hospital Trust is one of the largest in the North-West and one of the largest non-teaching trusts in England, running North Manchester General, Fairfield General, in Bury, and the Royal Oldham Hospital, as well as the Rochdale Infirmary.

In 2011-12, the trust spent over half a billion pounds on providing healthcare services.

The trust saw over 317,000 accident and emergency cases, 702,000 outpatients, 215 inpatients, 76,000 day cases, and delivered over 10,000 babies. Community staff made 112,000 home visits.