COVID costs, including staff pressures, will cost the Western Trust an estimated £61 million this year alone, partly as a result of the Delta variant, pushing its deficit up by £18.8 million.
In a financial performance report, delivered to the October meeting of the Western Trust Board, assistant director of finance Eimear McCauley said that £61 million was the forecasted cost of Covid for this financial year, which ends in March.
Of this figure, £15.5 million will be for workforce pressures associated with Covid. This includes additional costs for agency workers.
A further £24 million will be for PPE coast, while £21.5 million will be for “rebuild and response project costs”, including the vaccination programme, cleaning, testing and swabbing.
“We have board funding confirmed of £42.2 million, and therefore our projected deficit is £18.8 million in our financial year,” said Ms McCauley, with regard the Covid costs.
Ms McCauley said Trust’s projected deficit for the year had been revised as a result of the Covid costs. It is now forecast to be £57 million, including £38.2 million of a core deficit and £18.8 million of Covid-19 unfunded deficit.
To read more on this story see this week’s Fermanagh Herald. Can’t get to the shop to collect your copy? No problem! You can download a copy straight to your device by following this link https://bit.ly/3gOl8G0
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere