The National Health Service had a combined £1.6 billion underspend in 2011-2012, according to the Audit Commission. The Commission found that there were regional differences, though, with some NHS Trusts having a deficit. Meanwhile, the Commission has reported that the NHS has started to make inroads into the £20 billion of savings that the Government requires it to make by 2014-2015. The savings are being required in order to meet the growing health needs of the future. Mike Farrar, the NHS Confederation Chief Executive, has said that there will need to be fundamental changes to the way in which patients are treated, including much more home care.
The £20bn savings are the QIPP agenda – meaning Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention. The QIPP Agenda is a large scale transformational programme for the NHS, involving all NHS staff, clinicians, patients and the voluntary sector, designed to improve the quality of care the NHS delivers while making up to £20billion of efficiency savings by 2014-15, which will be reinvested in frontline care.