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It’s a familiar tale: an integrated care system facing cost pressures after just six months of the financial year, with high demand, the impact of inflation and the continuing cost implications of covid among the reasons.

It’s happening in most ICSs but what makes HSJ’s story interesting is that Frimley ICS is the only one in the country in segment one of NHS England’s oversight framework. It’s also very small, which means the £18.5m overspend in the first half of the year looks more significant.

Much of the overspend lies with Frimley Health Foundation Trust – its only acute trust – whose finance chief Nigel Foster has spoken of a “fundamental dichotomy” between the assumptions in fiscal plans and the reality on the ground. Like many other trusts, Frimley had forecast a large deficit early in the planning process –  of £35m – but had to accept a break-even position with additional funding.

Mr Foster points out that its position appears “unbridgeable” without additional funding – and there is no guarantee that any extra money will be enough to bridge the gap. With the government looking to cut spending, there is little confidence that NHS England will be able to be generous.

RIP GPDPR?

Plans to improve the use of GP-held patient data for planning and research purposes look increasingly doomed.

After the scheme – known as the GPDPR (General Practice Data for Planning and Research) – was indefinitely halted in summer 2021 amid GPs’ and public concern, ministers said the programme would be launched only when four commitments were met.

Fast forward 15 months, and there is now more uncertainty as the programme’s budget for 2022-23 has been slashed from nearly £9m to just £2.5m.

The cut has left NHS Digital chiefs warning that the remaining budget is “insufficient” to deliver the remaining commitments. One commitment – to clear the backlog of optouts – has been achieved.

The funding cut comes at a time when tech cash looks increasingly perilous as the NHS grapples with rising costs driven by inflation and staff pay rises.

Reducing funding for GPDPR may help balance the books in the short-term, but it is a disastrous move for commissioners, who believe far greater efficiencies can be unlocked by adopting a more data-driven approach to planning services.

NHSD insists the work will continue, but – without proper funding – it’s hard to see the scheme ever being launched as originally planned.

Also on hsj.co.uk today

This week, The Primer examines how the media have covered Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on international recruitment into the health service, and also at the prospect of pre-Christmas strikes by Royal College of Nursing members. And in North by North West, Lawrence Dunhill looks at one trust’s challenges in “educating the public” about disparities in timely access to healthcare.